Sen. Susan Collins, just a few hours before she is to announce her decision on the Brett Kavanaugh nomination, had lunch with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Whip John Cornyn.

After the lunch, McConnell said he is “optimistic” about Saturday's vote.

Sen. Lindsey Graham said GOP senators in the dining room combined their tables together to chat with Collins during lunch.

He also praised Collins for her courage in the face of what he called "mob rule," though he said he didn't know for sure how she'd vote.

"Sen. Collins has done her homework. She's always believed he was qualified, but she just wanted to make sure the allegations were seriously dealt with," Graham said. "Whether you agree with her or not, she's been really studious. It took a lot of courage here, you know mob rule is pretty hard to stare down sometimes. She's a rule of law person."

He also defended Republican Sen. Jeff Flake's "yes" vote, saying, "I think he's gonna go back and tell anybody that asks that 'I worked really really hard, this was an emotional case, but I did my homework.'"

Graham added that he thought Republicans were in a "good spot."