Molly Beck and Patrick Marley

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - With a week to go before the Nov. 6 election, President Donald Trump's plan to end automatic citizenship for some U.S.-born babies jumped to the forefront of Wisconsin's top-of-the-ticket races.

A week after making immigration issues a focus of his campaign for re-election, Gov. Scott Walker refused to say Tuesday whether he agreed with Trump's plan as his Democratic opponent Tony Evers quickly denounced the idea.

Before it was over, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and her Republican opponent Leah Vukmir also weighed in.

"It's a federal issue — I have no authority over that whatsoever," Walker said at the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center at a news conference where he received the endorsement of the Milwaukee Police Association.

"I have my hands full focusing on the state of Wisconsin."

Evers and his running mate, Mandela Barnes, declared their opposition to the proposal.

"Gov. Walker's silence is an endorsement of this proposal, just like when Trump called himself a nationalist," Barnes said, referring to Trump's recent declarations that he considers himself a "nationalist" and not a "globalist."

When he ran for president in 2015, Walker left open the possibility he would support ending birthright citizenship. But he said he wouldn't address the issue now.

"If I was running for federal office again, I would have thoughts on it," he said. "But I am running for state office. To me, I am focused on the state."

In an interview with "Axios on HBO" released Tuesday, Trump said he would seek to end birthright citizenship for the children of noncitizens with an executive order.

As Walker stayed away from the idea, Ryan said Trump couldn't do what he wanted to do because birthright citizenship is provided through the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

"Well, you obviously cannot do that," the Republican told a Kentucky radio station. "You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order."

Trump is floating the idea a week before a midterm election that has Republicans bracing for what could be a "blue wave" of Democratic turnout.

Such an order to remove the constitutional right would inevitably result in a court fight.

RELATED:Scott Walker at Iowa State Fair criticizes GOP lawmakers, takes on protesters

RELATED:President Trump says he plans to end birthright citizenship with an executive order

ELECTION LIST: See all of the races.

VOTER GUIDE:Voter guide: Here's what you need to know about Wisconsin's Nov. 6 general election

Meanwhile Tuesday, Vukmir praised Trump and expressed openness to ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants, but she did not address the details of Trump's proposal head on.

As the daughter of Greek immigrants, I support birthright citizenship for individuals that are legally in our country, but illegal immigrants are taking advantage of America’s generosity, and I applaud President Trump’s courageous leadership to fix our immigration crisis, which Senator Baldwin has failed to fix and has resulted in free education and health care benefits for illegal immigrants," Vukmir said in a statement.

In a statement, Baldwin said: "I disagree with the president, and I think what we really need to do is fix our broken immigration system and strengthen our border through comprehensive immigration reform."

Meanwhile, two candidates seeking to lead the state Department of Justice were silent on the matter. Aides to Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel and Democratic challenger Josh Kaul did not respond to questions about whether they supported the idea.

Walker, who appeared on stage with Trump and Vukmir last week, has weighed in on federal issues off and on since Trump's election and often stays away from controversial issues like Trump's stance on tariffs and his latest proposal.

Weeks before he dropped out of the presidential race in 2015 as Trump was surging, Walker said he would not seek to deport children born in the U.S. to parents who were not citizens but left open the idea of ending birthright citizenship.

"Do you think that birthright citizenship should be ended?" an MSNBC reporter asked in August 2015.

"Well, like I said, Harry Reid said it's not right for this country. I think that's something we should, yeah — absolutely going forward," Walker said, referring to the Senate minority leader at the time.

"We should end birthright citizenship?" the reporter asked.

"Yeah," Walker said, nodding. "To me, it's about enforcing the law ..."

"We should deport children of immigrants who are not citizens," the reporter responded.

"I didn't say that. I said you need to enforce the law, which to me is focusing on E-Verify," Walker said, referring to the internet-based federal system that employers use to check whether their employees are authorized to work in this country.

Days later, Walker told a CNBC interviewer that he had no stand on birthright citizenship.

"I'm not taking a position on it one way or the other," said Walker, who separately told ABC at the time he was not seeking to change the Constitution to end birthright citizenship.

Evers and Walker, who are locked in a tight race with just seven days to go, have drawn clear lines in recent weeks on other immigration issues despite Walker's refusal to weigh in on the latest matter.

Walker has released an ad criticizing Evers for his support of allowing so-called Dreamers who graduate from Wisconsin high schools to pay in-state tuition. The policy is aimed at helping those who are brought to the United States illegally when they are young.

The ad also hits Evers for backing allowing illegal immigrants to qualify for driver's permits if they pass a test. The ad refers to the immigrants as "illegals," a term that immigrant rights groups call offensive.

Ryan, in his radio comments, said Trump couldn't end birthright citizenship with an executive order.

"You know as a conservative, I’m a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution and I think in this case the 14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process," Ryan said.

Ryan is not running for re-election. Bryan Steil, the Republican seeking his seat, agreed with Ryan.

"As a conservative, I believe we must follow the plain text of the Constitution," Steil said in a statement. "The 14th amendment is clear regarding citizenship. I am focused on real solutions to address immigration and the first step is securing the border."

Steil's Democratic opponent, Randy Bryce, blasted Trump's idea, calling it "shameful."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said if Trump issues an executive order, he will likely be taken to court. Gingrich, who spoke with reporters in a conference call to promote Vukmir's campaign, said he did not think the president should act alone.

"I think this late in the campaign, with seven or eight days to go, this is too big an issue for the president to jump and try to actually do anything, so I think he’s expressing his opinion," Gingrich said. "But I would hope that he would ask the Congress to hold hearings before he actually decided what path to take."

Lee Bergquist, Bill Glauber and Mary Spicuzza of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.