The FAA has already mentioned that they would want to have drone operators own a pilot’s license before flying these machines, where a number of good reasons have been cited. Perhaps it would be cases like these – where a small drone actually crashed onto the grounds of the White House, that would support the need for such regulations. Do take note that it was in 2012 that the FAA was ordered by Congress to come up with rules concerning commercial drones, and these will range from machines that weigh just a few ounces to as large as an airliner, in order to share the skies with other passenger aircraft by the time September 2015 rolls around. While commercial drones have been by and large prohibited, the FAA has already granted 16 permits out of 295 applications for various purposes including movie-making and smokestack inspections.
Not only that, the FAA obviously prohibits aircraft from flying over the White House – and this would include drones. The White House is not the only building to be covered by such a regulation, since congressional buildings too, are part of the “deal” for obvious security reasons, among others, concerning national welfare. This incident of the drone gatecrashing the White House’s carefully manicured lawn is most probably an isolated incident, without any malice or ill intention in the first place.