A pair of Republican senators are teaming up with the White House to introduce legislation to restrict legal immigration by slashing the number of visas and green cards available each year.

Expected to be introduced in the Senate as early as Tuesday by Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act would eliminate several ways for U.S. citizens and permanent resident to obtain green cards for family members. The bill would also nix the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which each year distributes by lottery 50,000 green cards to people from countries with typically low immigration to the U.S. and the number of refugees to 50,000 annually.

"Sen. Cotton and I are taking action to fix the shortcomings in our legal immigration system," Perdue said in a statement. "Returning to our historically normal levels of legal immigration will help improve the quality of American jobs and wages."

According to Cotton's aides, the bill is expected to cut immigration by 40 percent in the first year and by 50 percent over 10 years.

“This legislation sends a terrible message to the rest of the world and is unquestionably a job killer,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said in a statement. “Immigrants contribute greatly to our country’s entrepreneurial spirit, spurring job growth in New Hampshire and across the country. Cutting successful visa programs and needlessly separating immigrant families is just wrong and senseless.”

Cotton and Perdue's legislation is the first in what is expected to be a series of bills aimed at reshaping the nation's immigration system, and marks a major shift of the mainstream Republican stance on the issue.

As recently as 2013, Senate Republicans participated in authoring an immigration reform bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for those in the U.S. illegally. The bill passed the Senate with support from 14 Republicans, but was never taken up in the House.

The new plan could prompt a clash between those Republicans – 11 of whom are still in the Senate – and the ascendent populist wing of the Republican Party, including attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions, which favors limiting all immigration.

In an interview with Politico, Cotton said the White House was receptive to his plan to target legal immigration as well as those attempting to come or stay in the country illegally.

"Donald Trump was the only one who saw that most Americans don't like our current immigration system," Cotton said . "This is just the area of politics where I think leaders and elites are most disconnected from the people. Not just Republicans but in both parties, in business, in the media, in the academy, culture and so forth."

While the president focused on illegal immigration during his campaign, warning of people "pouring" over the border despite data from the U.S. Border Patrol showing illegal immigration has dropped precipitously in recent years – he initially included green cards holders in his executive order limiting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.

A draft proposal that has been circulating for several weeks suggests Trump may target other legal visa programs, including investor visas, business visitor visas and the H-1B visa program that allows 85,000 skilled foreigners to obtain legal residency in the U.S.

The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act does not affect employment-based immigration, Cotton said on MSNBC .