President Obama made a rare appearance in the White House press briefing room Friday to advocate stimulus spending over austerity, saying the economic crisis in Europe is a reminder to lawmakers here that economic growth should be a higher priority than spending cuts.

“As some countries have discovered, it’s a lot harder to rein in deficits and debt if your economy is not growing,” he said of the economic crisis engulfing Europe. “There’s nothing responsible about waiting to fix your roof until it caves in.”