WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican Rep. Joe Wilson may have violated good taste when he yelled "You lie!" at President Barack Obama last week, and Democrats are moving forward with a resolution scolding him for it. But did he break any specific House rules?

The answer is more complicated than it seems, and the rules that some initially cited don't appear to apply.

The House generally requires its members to abstain from personal insults during debate. Over the years, the institution has developed a long list of precedents deemed out of order, including insults directed at the president.

Some are downright odd: You can't call the president "a little bugger" or refer to any alleged sexual misconduct, for example. Others are more predictable: Don't call the president a liar or accuse him of lying.

Democrats initially cited the latter precedent in saying Wilson's outburst was a violation.

But Wilson, R-S.C., could get off on a technicality on that score because Congress was meeting in a special joint session for Obama's speech on Wednesday, not under the House's normal rules of debate.

"It doesn't violate House rules because the House wasn't in (normal) session," said Donald Wolfensberger, director of the Congress Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.

Wolfensberger noted that under regular rules, House lawmakers wouldn't be allowed to stand and cheer as they frequently do at presidential speeches before Congress.

House Parliamentarian John Sullivan agreed that the House's rules on debate probably don't apply to the incident. But he and others said the House has wide latitude in interpreting its general code of conduct that says "a lawmaker shall conduct himself at all times in a manner which shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives."

A lawmaker doesn't have to violate a specific rule to get scolded.

"This probably is not a question of decorum in debate as much as a question of decorum generally," Sullivan said.

Wilson, a conservative who won a 2001 special election to earn his seat in Congress, apologized to the White House and in a written public statement shortly after hurling the insult last week. But he has refused to apologize on the House floor.

At first, Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that everyone just move on. But Pelosi changed her mind after many Democrats insisted that Wilson apologize directly to the House, saying the outburst was at least a general breach of decorum. They argued that allowing it to stand without some formal rebuke would create a bad precedent.

Pelosi and other party leaders confirmed Monday night that they would proceed with a resolution. Democratic aides said it probably would be introduced Tuesday afternoon, with a vote later in the day. Aides initially said it would be introduced by fellow South Carolinian Rep. James Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in the House, but officials said later Monday it was undecided who would introduce the measure.

The aides said the resolution would focus broadly on Wilson's conduct. The aides spoke anonymously because no public announcement had been made.

Wilson meanwhile, has accused Democrats of playing politics with the incident, and House GOP leaders are backing him. Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he would vote against the measure.

Wilson's unusual outburst came as Obama said illegal immigrants would not be eligible for low-cost health care.

The Democratic proposals on health explicitly prohibit spending any federal money to help illegal immigrants get health care. Still, Republicans say the legislation needs stronger citizenship verification to ensure illegal immigrants are excluded.

After the uproar, Senate Democrats said last week they were negotiating stronger verification requirements to be included in the bill, and the White House said it was also strengthening its position against health care coverage for illegal immigrants.

Wilson and his likely 2010 Democratic opponent, Rob Miller, have raked in donations since the incident.

Miller has raised more than $1.5 million, more than twice what he spent in his 2008 challenge to Wilson, according to campaign officials. Wilson was raising money at a similar pace, taking in more than $700,000 as of Friday. His latest tally was not available Monday.

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Associated Press writer David Espo contributed to this report.