President Donald Trump has privately complained that he should not have signed the executive order that halted the zero-tolerance policy of prosecuting undocumented immigrants who crossed the border, which resulted in parents being separated from their children, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

The president has also grumbled to aides why he could not just write up a wide-ranging executive order to solve the problem of illegal immigration, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

The Times did not name the sources it cited for the report.

Aides have had to explain to Trump why such a comprehensive immigration reform is not within the reach of the president's executive powers.

The Times report comes shortly after the president signed the executive order that ended the administration's practice of separating families at the border, which resulted in some 2,000 children being separated from their parents, according to The Hill.

Trump signed the order after a nationwide backlash against the policy when pictures were shown of the distraught children crying for their parents and being kept in cages.