Republicans in Congress appeared open to President Donald Trump’s proposal to use the death penalty to crack down on drug dealers on Thursday night before the expected release of the president’s long-awaited opioid plan.

Republicans argued that such a policy could deter would-be drug dealers. But the move could spark a fierce legal battle, and Democrats, such as Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, have condemned it as an extreme option. “We will not incarcerate or execute our way out of the opioid epidemic,” Markey responded in a statement.

Politico reported on Thursday that Trump’s plan to respond to the opioid crisis would involve stricter punishments for convicted drug dealers, including the death penalty for some. Federal law currently authorizes prosecutors to seek the death penalty as an option in drug-related murders, but CBS reported the administration is hoping to expand capital punishment for drug crimes by encouraging prosecutors to utilize it in cases of trafficking leading to fatal opioid overdoses.

Trump cheerleader Chris Collins was quick to offer his support for the proposal. “Absolutely,” said Collins. “I think we need to have real consequences.” And California Republican Darrell Issa, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told me that using capital punishment for drug-related crimes could be a “useful tool” for law enforcement in fighting organized crime.

“I haven’t looked at it relative to the president’s proposal, but I have looked at it over the years with the frustration that U.S. attorneys sometimes face where they can get a whole bunch of the henchmen for murder, but they can’t get the kingpin for something that’s more than you know, 20 years, 10 years, or less,” said Issa.

Trump is expected to pitch his plan on Monday when he visits New Hampshire, a state that has been ravaged by the opioid crisis. According to a December report from the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 63,600 people in the United States died from drug overdoses in 2016, 66 percent of which were due to opioids.

Trump loyalist Lou Barletta said there should be “severe penalties” for dealers, but he stopped short of endorsing capital punishment. He is willing to talk about the idea, though — “I don’t have much compassion for drug dealers.”

Federal drug trafficking penalties vary according to the crime. Currently, possession with the intent to distribute between 40 grams and 399 grams of the opioid fentanyl—in the case of death or serious injury—can be punishable by 20 years to life in prison and a fine ranging anywhere from $2 million to $5 million on the first offense, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Penalties get tougher on second offense.

Most of Barletta’s colleagues expressed similar sentiments, saying they hadn’t fully formed an opinion, but were sympathetic to Trump’s stance.

“If the president would support it, I am very open to hearing it,” House Rules Committee chairman Pete Sessions told me.

Florida Republican Brian Mast didn’t take a position, but added, “There’s some reason in there, right?” If drug dealers are bringing people’s lives to an end on a mass scale, he surmised, then there should be room for such a debate.

But some Republicans were less open.

“I would not immediately jump up and down in support of that,” Arizona Republican and House Freedom Caucus member Andy Biggs told me on his way out of the Capitol Thursday night. Walking with him was fellow Judiciary committee member Ron DeSantis, who withheld comment — “We’ll see what the proposal is.”

And Rep. Steve King described himself as “not that enthusiastic” about the plan, arguing it would need clearer definitions. “I’m for being tough on them, but that’s a step we haven’t contemplated here, and I’d want to hear the arguments on both sides,” said King.

Trump has praised countries who use the death penalty for drug crimes, such as China and the Philippines, where president Rodrigo Duterte has waged a brutal war on drugs, executing more than 12,000 suspects, many of them extrajudicially.

“I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem,” Trump told Duterte in a phone call last spring, reported by the Washington Post. “Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”

Trump is talking about federal laws, but in the United States, most death sentences are handed down on the state level. Undecided Texas Republican Randy Weber told me he likes his state being in charge of penalties rather than the federal government because it meant they could be tough on crime. In federal cases, the death penalty is rarely employed. According to CNN, only 74 death sentences have been issued by federal juries since 1988, and only three federal inmates on death row have actually been executed since 1988—none since 2003.