CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Immigration Reform

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BLITZER: All right, Dana is up on the hill, thanks very much.

Let's get some reaction to what is going on. Joining us now, (INAUDIBLE) controversial critic of immigration reform, Republican Congressman Steve king of Iowa.

Congressman, thanks very much for coming in.

REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: Glad to be here.

BLITZER: I'll play a clip, John Boehner making a case for immigration reform on a piecemeal basis. Listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The American people don't want the government shut down and they don't want Obamacare.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Obviously that's not the right clip. Basically, the right sound bite is immigration reform dead? Absolutely not, he said. I made clear going in the day after the last election 2012 that it was time for Congress to deal with this issue. I believe that Congress needs to deal with this issue. Are you with the speaker?

KING: We disagree on that strategy.

BLITZER: Do you believe that legal status for these illegal status and not -- forget about pathway to citizenship for now but making them legal in the United States?

KING: I don't believe in bleeding with that part. It really comes down to this. And we have a president who has refused to enforce immigration law, made up some of his own along the way, we have a border is clearly not secure which is step number one.

BLITZER: He deported a record number of people, as you know. And he's tightened the border along the U.S.-Mexico border.

KING: But to some of the numbers, I asked people to look at, Wolf, because the administration can give you what they want you to know. But if you look at the numbers of deaths in the desert on those attempting to get into the United States, those numbers are up, not down. And that's a tragedy.

BLITZER: Does the speaker, assuming he's ready to go along with this deal and let's say that the president is ready to accept the compromise he is putting forth, does he have his Republican caucus, you are not on board with him but you have gone some headcounts. How much support will he have?

KING: I don't know that I can give a number for that. But I'll say that there is a fairly large solid core that understands this, that in a promise of enforcement that we would open up a path to legalization. And by the way, we understand that a legalization is a path to citizenship. And Democrats wouldn't wait until the debate is over, that would be part of the debate. They would lament --

BLITZER: What about path to citizenship for the children of these illegal immigrants? They've done nothing wrong. They were here. Many of them were born here in the United States or whatever. Would you be open to letting the kids, the children of the illegal immigrants have this pathway to citizenship?

KING: Wolf, that's the most sympathetic cause in the whole lexicon of immigration discussion. And Republicans should not lead with that, but instead we should say to the president, secure the border, enforce the law, then we'll talk. Once you establish and restore the respect for the rule of law, then we can have that discussion.

BLITZER: But you're going to resist everything that Boehner is now putting forward?

KING: I will. Because there's no pathway that I can see that good immigration legislation can get to the president's desk without amnesty attached, without the aides bill in the Senate being attached in various nefarious forms. So from that standpoint, the leadership in the house tell me how they can get a bill to the president's desk that actually does good things to restore the rule of the law and we need it to design the economic, social, and cultural well-being of America.

BLITZER: Steve King making career there's going to be a split among Republicans on this issue as well.

KING: We shouldn't talk about it, Wolf. There's no reason to have the debate.

BLITZER: No. That debate is going to happen as the president will make a big issue out of it in which Boehner is ready to try to make a deal. We'll see if a piecemeal deal, we will see if they can, despite your opposition.

KING: I watched the president's state of the union address. He will bring up three things, unemployment benefits and increase in the minimum wage and immigration. All of them, Democrats are essentially unanimous on and all of them split the Republican Party right down the middle. That's their attempt. We'll see that coming and Republicans ought to see it coming. It is a pretty obvious play.

BLITZER: Steve King, thanks very much for coming in.

KING: Thank you.

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