McCrory talks drilling and Blueprint on Fox News

"I got a political speech and no commitment whatsoever" from the president, McCrory said. He added that, at a time when the states and federal government are facing tight budgets, "There is absolutely no sense of urgency to give us a permitting process."

On the sequester, automatic federal budget cuts scheduled to go into effect later this week, McCrory said that he would hold meetings Tuesday to try to understand how the roll back of federal funds might affect North Carolina.

"We're getting a lot of mixed signals from Washington," he said, noting that Obama hosted the governors for a black-tie dinner on Sunday night, the day before he outlined what the sequestration cuts would mean for their states.

"I've only been in office six weeks, and they're already trying to brand me," he said.