Story highlights "There's not going to be a government shutdown. It's just not going to happen," McConnell said.

Democrats say they will insist on DACA funding in a spending bill, teeing up a potential showdown.

Washington (CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday that he is confident there will not be a government shutdown over partisan disagreements about immigration issues when funding runs out at the end of the week.

"There's not going to be a government shutdown. It's just not going to happen," McConnell told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" when asked if Congress would be able to keep the government running.

The issue being discussed as a roadblock to keeping the government funded is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program , which is set to end in March. The Obama-era program has protected young undocumented immigrants, known as "dreamers," who came to the US as children, from deportation. Democrats say they will insist on protections for the dreamers in return for their support for a spending bill, giving rise to a potential showdown.

In return, some Republicans have said they want a robust border security package, something Trump campaigned on, but many Democrats are resisting.

"That's a ridiculous position," McConnell said of the Democrats' stance on the DACA issue . "There's no crisis. There's no emergency. The President has given us until March to address it. I don't think the Democrats would be very smart to say they want to shut down the government over a non-emergency."