President Biden calls for unity, executive orders already draw rebuke from some Republicans

The 46th President of the United States Joe Biden on Wednesday echoed his most prolific predecessors.

"But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us, on we the people, who seek a more perfect union," he said, in an effort to heal a fractured nation. "We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus -- rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal."

North Carolina congresswoman Deborah Ross (D) spoke about the moments we couldn't see on TV.

"The best part of it really was the sense of togetherness," Ross, the freshman Congresswoman from Raleigh, told ABC11 in an interview. "Everybody who participated brought the sense of the moment and themselves and the real belief in our country. There really has been a sense that we need to set the example rather than get to the lowest level or lowest common denominator. The people deserve that and we have too many big problems to solve to put partisan bickering or politics as the first thing we're thinking about."

Senator Richard Burr (R), along with Representatives Alma Adams (D), GK Butterfield (D), Kathy Manning (D), Madison Cawthorn (R), and David Rouzer (R) were also in attendance.

Cawthorn, who only weeks ago wanted to challenge Biden's legitimate victory on Wednesday signed a letter sent to the new president from Republicans pledging to work with him. They'll have that chance as soon as lawmakers review Biden's new $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package promising 100 million vaccinations in the first 100 days.

On Day 1, though, the new commander-in-chief already re-entered into the Paris Climate Accord, suspended funding for the Keystone XL Pipeline, ended limits on travel from some Muslim-majority countries, and protected DACA, the Obama-era immigration program protecting undocumented immigrants who arrived as young children from deportation.

Those moves are already too much for some North Carolina Republicans like Congressman Greg Murphy, who said in a statement: "I will vigorously oppose a leftward progressive lurch in our country where the government believes that it knows better than that average citizen on how best to run their lives."