(CNN) From the moment images of children being separated from their parents bubbled up in the national consciousness late last week, it became abundantly clear that something had to be done, and quickly.

Regardless of how we got to this point -- a decision by the Trump administration to put in place a "zero-tolerance" policy regarding people trying to enter the country illegally -- the images (and the audio) demanded action. Tearing kids away from parents, even parents who are trying to cross into the country illegally, gets beyond dry policy debates. It's an emotional issue -- about who we are as a country and who we want to be.

And yet, President Donald Trump and his administration spent the better part of a week insisting that his hands were tied (they weren't) when it came to ending the crisis at the border. He called on Congress to act. He sent out the head of the Department of Homeland Security to insist that "Congress alone can fix it." Then on Wednesday afternoon -- even as the House was preparing to vote on an immigration bill on Thursday -- Trump suddenly announced he would be signing "something" that would end the separation of families at the border.

Later Wednesday, he signed an executive order to keep parents and kids together.

"We're signing an executive order. I consider it to be a very important executive order. It's about keeping families together, while at the same time being sure we have a very powerful, very strong border," Trump said.

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