Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersNYT editorial board remembers Ginsburg: She 'will forever have two legacies' Two GOP governors urge Republicans to hold off on Supreme Court nominee Sanders knocks McConnell: He's going against Ginsburg's 'dying wishes' MORE (I-Vt.) on Sunday defended the Democratic-led efforts to oppose a Republican government funding bill as morally the right action to take.

"I think from a moral perspective it was the right thing to do. And that is to say to these 800,000 young people, we are not going to allow them to be subjected to deportation," Sanders told CBS News's Nancy Cordes on "Face the Nation."

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The government shut down for three days earlier this month after Democrats voted against a short-term funding measure because it did not include a fix for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE announced last year that he would end the Obama-era program, which protects certain immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

"They didn't even know that they were not American citizens. So we have got to stand with these young people," Sanders said.

The White House announced last Thursday that Trump would support granting a pathway to citizenship for as many as 1.8 million such immigrants in exchange for border wall funding and changes to the immigration system.

His immigration plan is set to be unveiled this week.