Republicans who are negotiating over the Obamacare crisis emerged no closer to a deal Wednesday night, as warring factions still disagree over whether to merely repeal the law or prescribe a replacement right away.

The meeting, described by Politico, followed a lunch with President Donald Trump during which he told them – three times – to cancel their August recess unless they could first reach a deal and move a bill forward.

By Thursday morning some senators who had backed a repeal-and-replace measure last week were throwing in the towel and agreeing to a repeal-and-delay tactic.

Tennessee Republican Bob Corker said in a statement that 'the best path forward is for Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act after a reasonable transition period. This takes us back to a level playing field where, by a date certain, all sides have incentive to work together to develop a health care replacement that can generate broad support and will stand the test of time.'

Embattled Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell faces an unruly Republican Conference that can't agree on what to do about getting rid of Obamacare

Arizona Sen. John McCain's return to work is in doubt after his brain tumor diagnosis, and his absence could deny the GOP the crucial 50th vote to repeal Barack Obama's medical insurance overhaul

The contours of the conflict revolve around a standoff between conservatives and moderates who won't agree on the content of an Obamacare replacement package.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Kentucky's Rand Paul contend that the Better Care Reconciliation Act isn't conservative enough.

Moderates like Ohio's Rob Portman and West Virginia's Shelley Moore Capito say potential Medicaid spending cuts would move thousands of their constituents into the ranks of the uninsured.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised them more than $100 billion in subsidies to lower premiums and counter a nationwide opiate addiction problem, but that hasn't moved centrists.

Capito is also among a group of three female senators – including Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine's Susan Collins – who say they won't back any approach that doesn't include a replacement for Obamacare.

That could doom a back-up plan that would repeal Obamacare as of a specific date in the future, incentivizing both Republicans and Democrats to craft a solution before the deadline.

Sens Mike Lee of Utah (left) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (right) say the current repeal-and-replace package is too weak, often calling it 'Obamacare Lite'

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia says she would be a 'no' in a showdown vote next week to repeal Obamacare with a deadline for future replacement, and she also worries that the current proposed substitution would remove too much Medicaid funding

McConnell has said twice this week on the Senate floor that he will call for a vote on something next week, although it's still not clear which bill will be put to the test.

The vote wouldn't be an attempt to pass the bill, but a preliminary measure that would officially move it into debate and make it eligible for final passage.

Legislative leaders typically don't call votes until they know what the outcome will be. In this case, with a final tally remaining uncertain, a result that falls short of 50 'yes' votes would be monumentally embarrassing for the GOP.

Making matters one step more challenging is Wednesday's brain cancer diagnosis of Arizona Sen. John McCain, who was expected to return to Congress next week following the removal of a cranial blood clot – but whose resumption of duties may now have to wait.

President Donald Trump met with 49 of the Senate's 52 Republicans on Wednesday at the White House, but few arms were effectively twisted

Even if the Senate GOP finds 50 votes to move its bill forward, passage is by no means certain – and House Speaker Paul Ryan (pictured) is waiting in the wings to negotiate even more changes because his chamber passed its own bill in May

Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, the senator tasked with carrying out the head-count and twisting the arms of the uncertain, told reporters after Wednesday's White House lunch that he would prefer to see a repeal-and-replace package hit the Senate floor.

'If we can get an agreement here, my preference would be to start with the BCRA, agree to language – and I think we’re getting closer,' Cornyn said.

Still, Trump's famed 'Art of the Deal' aggressiveness seems to be falling on deaf ears.

'Right now, nobody’s afraid of Trump, and that’s a real problem,” Rob Jesmer, the former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told The New York Times.

'But the truth is that he hasn't really tried.'

Whatever emerges from the Senate's slow-turning sausage grinder will have a final hurdle to jump: The House of Representatives passed its own repeal-and-replace measure in May by a narrow margin, and the two bills would need to be reconciled before going to the president's desk.