As the White House scrambles to fix a crisis of its own making, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday night lambasted President Donald Trump's policy of breaking apart immigrant families as a "pathetic" attempt to please his voters.

"He created the crisis. He could end the crisis," Sanders said on CNN. "He sees from his political perspective that being anti-immigrant is a winner for him politically. I don't think it is, but that's his logic. And he will continue to mount a very strong anti-immigrant effort."

CNN host Anderson Cooper asked if Trump was trying to use the children to get funding for his border wall.

"Maybe, maybe," Sanders said. "I think more importantly, you have a president who has given tax breaks to billionaires, who wants to cut programs that working people desperately need, and he thinks, as authoritarian types all over Europe believe, that if you can foment anger against immigrants and show how strong and tough you are on those little children that it will get you votes in elections. I think that's pretty pathetic, but I think ultimately that's his strategy."

Sanders also argued that the president's executive order, supposedly signed Wednesday to stop the family separations, doesn't go "far enough," since the families that have already been separated won't necessarily be reunited.

Watch the clip below: