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>> there are 690,000 official daca registrants and the president sent over what amounts to be two and a halftimes that number, to 1.8 million. the difference between 690 and 1.8 million were the people that some would say were too afraid to sign up, others would say were too lazy to get off their asses but they didn't sign up. >> so, setting aside the spending discussion, the breaking news that's developing right now on the hill avoiding a shutdown when we talk about the immigration pieces, do comments like that help or hurt the debate? >> they're not helping with sympathizers of dreamers, dem...

Significantly larger and there will be several pieces of legislation passed by you and your colleagues that will have expanded the deficit. is that a fair prediction? >> i think it's quite possible. but before we do anything in congress, chris, we have to focus on one issue. there's an assumption that somehow congress will function better. we have to get the basics right. we have to make sure we can fund the government, not lurch from crisis to crisis and make sure the country doesn't default on its obligations. if we wind up in the usual navel gazing episodes that lead to a circular firing sq...

Is that a fair prediction? >> i think it's quite possible. but before we do anything in congress, chris, we have to focus on one issue. there's an assumption that somehow congress will function better. we have to get the basics right. we have to make sure we can fund the government, not lurch from crisis to crisis and make sure the country doesn't default on its obligations. if we wind up in the usual navel gazing episodes that lead to a circular firing squad, that will make it difficult for us to deal with issues like an infrastructure bill, tax reform or whatever the issue of the moment is. ...

And it gives the president a little more leverage, because first of all, he's got his top rate that he wants. second of all, he doesn't have to engage in some hocus pocus about quote, unquote, entitlement reform, a phrase i hate. these are things people have paid for up front. we're trying to control the costs and should do that. but cutting the benefits is a bad idea. we don't have to do that in order to save money on medicare. we can do that by changing the way we pay for it. >> and what the republicans are trying to do is join the spending discussion to the tax discussion. and if you go off...

And it gives the president a little more leverage, because first of all, he's got his top rate that he wants. second of all, he doesn't have to engage in some hocus pocus about quote, unquote, entitlement reform, a phrase i hate. these are things people have paid for up front. we're trying to control the costs and should do that. but cutting the benefits is a bad idea. we don't have to do that in order to save money on medicare. we can do that by changing the way we pay for it. >> and what the republicans are trying to do is join the spending discussion to the tax discussion. and if you go off...