Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said Donald Trump should preserve a program giving legal cover to young undocumented immigrants, potentially creating a rift between the president and Republican leadership.

An Obama-era initiative known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), allows unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the country as children and have clean legal records to get work permits and avoid deportation. Mr Trump has sent mixed signals on his intention for Daca but a threat by Republican attorneys general to sue if Mr Trump does not suspend the program is forcing a decision.

Mr Trump said he would announce whether to end DACA - a programme that protects nearly 800,000 so-called 'Dreamers' from deportation - by Monday. “We love the 'Dreamers,'” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

However, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckerbee Sanders later said that the fate of the police was being "finalised" and would be announced on Tuesday.

Most of the Dreamer immigrants came from Mexico and other Latin American countries. More than 200,000 live in California, while 100,000 are in Texas. New York, Illinois and Florida also have large numbers.

What to do about Dreamers has been actively debated within the White House and Trump administration. One senior administration official described the debate to Reuters as a “tug of war” between factions in favour and against the move.

In addition to Democrats and immigrant advocates, business leaders and some Republican elected officials have urged Mr Trump to preserve DACA. Mr Ryan threw his weight behind that stance during a radio interview with WCLO Janesville, broadening a fissure among Republicans on Mr Trump’s signature issue of immigration.

“I don’t think he should do that”, Mr Ryan said in response to a question about Mr Trump potentially ending the program. “These are kids who know no other country, who were brought here by their parents and don't know another home”, he added, calling for a “legislative solution”.

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Senator Orrin Hatch - another Republican - said in a statement that rescinding the programme would further complicate a US immigration system sorely in need of legislative reform.

“Like the president, I've long advocated for tougher enforcement of our existing immigration laws. But we also need a workable, permanent solution for individuals who entered our country unlawfully as children through no fault of their own and who have built their lives here. And that solution must come from Congress,” Mr Hatch said.

In contrast to Mr Trump - who built his campaign around a vow to crack down on illegal immigration and build a wall with Mexico, and has since backed drastically slashing immigration numbers - Mr Ryan has backed bipartisan efforts at comprehensive immigration reform, though he said late in Barack Obama’s term that he had abounded the effort.

Donald Trump calls for 'extreme vetting' of immigrants

During the presidential campaign, Mr Ryan said he did not support Mr Trump’s proposal to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. He criticized Mr Trump’s comments saying many immigrants are criminals and rapists as “extremely disrespectful”, saying Mr Trump “doesn't speak for the Republican party”.