Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that in an immigration deal he would like to limit "chain migration" to the nuclear family and build “some form of wall." | Michael Reynolds/Pool/Getty Images Rand Paul proposes guaranteed immigration vote to end shutdown

Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday proposed a compromise to reopen the government: a promise to Democrats of a week of votes on immigration at the end of which there's some resolution for the so-called Dreamers brought to the U.S. as children.

The Kentucky Republican said he believes the impasse that shut down the government Saturday could end if Republicans were willing to offer a series of votes on immigration, including amendments, in both chambers.


“It's gamesmanship and partisanship. I gave them the answer how you solve this today: Promise, guarantee in writing to the Democrats that there will be one week's debate on immigration and a vote on an immigration bill sometime in the next month in the House and the Senate,” Paul said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Now, when I presented this to those in the Senate ... they were like, 'Oh, no, we want guaranteed passage on a must-pass bill.' Nobody gets a guaranteed passage.”

President Donald Trump ordered an end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program last year, giving Congress six months to work out a deal to re-authorize the program, which was established by an executive order of President Barack Obama.

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The program gives those who either arrived or stayed in the U.S. illegally as children a chance to stay in the country and an opportunity to get a work permit.

Without congressional action, the program will expire March 5.

Asked what he would support in an immigration deal, Paul said limiting "chain migration" to the nuclear family and building “some form of wall,” though he called the $20 billion price tag on the proposed wall “outrageous.”