A veteran national pollster urged the GOP to set a "positive agenda" as Congress heads into its 114th session next week.

"I think Republicans need a positive agenda where they really force the president to agree with them on some key issues and if they don't, the Democrats will really be in a divisive position," John McLaughlin said in an interview on "The Cats Roundtable," host John Catsimatidis's Sunday radio show on New York AM 970.

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Republicans are putting approval for the Keystone XL pipeline at the top of the congressional agenda as well as tax reform and infrastructure rebuilding. The GOP seized control of the Senate in November's midterm election, gaining full control of Congress in 2015 and the ability to pin down President Obama during his last two years in office.

McLaughlin said Republicans and Democrats should be able to find common ground on contentious issues, such as immigration reform.

"Everyone agrees we need to secure the border, so rather than forcing a comprehensive plan with division on pathway to citizenship, why don't they just start with a simple bill saying 'let's secure the border first' and then fix the broken system when we reduce illegal immigration to less than 90 percent where it once was."