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House Speaker Thom Tillis took the brunt of the criticism and tough questions about the midnight special session. In an interview Thursday afternoon with our Charlotte Observer colleague Jim Morrill, the Mecklenberg County Republican didn't back down. In fact, he said he'd do it again, if needed.

But then later in the interview, Tillis said such actions should be rare. And he even suggested the House didn't attempt to override the Energy Jobs Act, a bill reviled by environmentalists, because of transparency concerns.

Here's a few edited Q&As with the Republican speaker courtesy of Morrill.

UPDATED: After the 1:12 a.m. vote on a bill designed to weaken the state's largest teacher's association, House Speaker Thom Tillis defended his leadership, calling the legislature's actions transparent. In a gaggle with reporters, Tillis tried to explain why the House needed to convene in the wee hours of Thursday morning to handle the override.

At 2:46 in the video, this reporter asked Tillis: "So you expect the public to be here at 1 a.m. to hear the veto of that bill?"

Tillis: "They're welcome, they're probably not here, but everybody should know, the public should know, or any of the vested interests. I think it's disingenuous to say that a number of people would come up if we did it tomorrow morning. I would suspect probably the same number of people would be there and they'd be the special interests that are opposing the override, so I'm not sure that has weight in terms of practical effect."

At 3:20, a reporter asks: "How would (the public) have known to be here at 1 o'clock in the morning? "

Tillis: "Because for the past six months we have said any veto override on unfinished business is elegible anytime we come into session and we're true to our word."