Bay Area college students sound off on State of the Union Address at viewing party

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- At the end of Tuesday night's State of the Union address, President Donald Trump urged Americans to "choose greatness."

Trump finished his speech on an optimistic note, even suggesting "our biggest victories are still to come."

RELATED: President Trump urges American's to 'choose greatness' in State of the Union address

In the Bay Area, college students at Santa Clara University (SCU) joined in on the political conversation. The university hosted a viewing party at a residence hall on campus.

Some students in attendance told ABC7 News, Tuesday night's big takeaway is illegal immigration; a topic the president called a "moral issue."

"Republicans and Democrats must join forces again to confront an urgent national crisis," Trump said.

President Trump pointed to what he called increased crime, reduced jobs, lower wages and other impacts seen across the country.

"He tried to make an emotional appeal to people," SCU Junior, Alex Weiskopf said. "To support more border security, by telling the stories of people who were impacted by illegal immigrants."

With each story told, President Trump supplied specific numbers.

"In the last two years, our brave ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens, including those charged or convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings," he said.

FACT CHECK: Trump's 2019 State of the Union address

SCU Freshman, Angelus McNally told ABC7 News, "I'd love to look at the studies he's referenced or where he's getting these numbers. It's very possible that he has some strong points there, but just throwing out numbers like that is a little hard to prove or stand by."

The Associated Press and ABC News are fact-checking remarks from the President's State of the Union speech.

In the address, Trump covered the gamut of issues, often times triggered a reaction from SCU's college crowd.

One issue in particular was thought to be the most contentious.

"In the middle of the speech, he talked about foolish wars and partisan investigations," SCU professor, Dennis Gordon said.

Trump adding, "If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation."

"That was the most controversial part by far," Gordon said.

FULL TEXT: Read President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech

The Political Science professor said he'd call President Trump's address a success. Gordon said seeing students connecting with content and not simply focusing on delivery, or controversy was refreshing.

The next step for many is fact-checking.