Story highlights Replacing Obama care is "very challenging," he said, but added: "No action is not an option."

Fewer than 17% of Americans approve of the Senate health care bill

(CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that he plans to continue the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare -- the same day President Donald Trump called for repealing the law immediately and replacing it later.

"Think of it this way ... I'm sitting there with a Rubix cube, trying to figure out how to twist the dials to get to 50 to replace this with something better than this," the Kentucky Republican said at the Hardin County GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner, referring to the number of senators needed to pass a bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

Finding a replacement for the law is "very challenging," but allowing Obamacare to remain in place is not an option, McConnell said, according to a video of his remarks posted on the website of the Courier-Journal newspaper, based in Louisville, Kentucky.

"Obamacare is a disaster," the Kentucky lawmaker said. "No action is not an option."

Fewer than one in five Americans approve of the Senate health care bill, according to an NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll released Wednesday, and 55% of Americans disapprove.

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