Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerVideo of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral Graham signals support for confirming a Supreme Court nominee this year Pelosi orders Capitol flags at half-staff to honor Ginsburg MORE (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday defended his decision to back a spending measure and end the government shutdown without securing protections for certain young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Schumer said Senate Democrats "cut the best deal" possible in ending the shutdown and getting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellMomentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Trump expects to nominate woman to replace Ginsburg next week Video of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral MORE (R-Ky.) to agree to address the legal protections for the immigrants – commonly called "Dreamers" – in February.

"All of us in the Democratic caucus — not just the moderates but the liberals as well — came to the view that if we carry [the shutdown] on much longer, A.) no one would budge; the public would lose support for the shutdown — the public does not love shutdowns — and we would actually lose support for Dreamers too, because people love the Dreamers but don’t want the government shutdown for it," he said.

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Pushed by Maddow on whether Senate Democrats caved to political pressure from Republicans, Schumer said that his caucus's hands were tied in the matter, because the GOP holds the majority in both chambers of Congress.

"We’re doing everything we can. But what people have to understand is, we don’t have a magic wand," he said. "If we became the majority next year, if the House becomes the majority, we will get Dreamers [protected]."

Schumer also acknowledged that there was no guarantee that McConnell would keep his commitment to address the issue early next month, but said Democrats would "hold his feet to the fire."

Schumer and several Senate Democrats have faced scrutiny since they moved to back a spending deal on Monday that ended the government shutdown, but fell short of achieving their stated goal of codifying the protections of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program into law.

President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE rescinded that program in September, prompting calls from Democrats and some Republicans to swiftly pass legislation enshrining its protections in law.

Since voting on the spending deal on Monday, however, immigrant advocates have accused Schumer and others of capitulating to political pressure from Republicans, who sought to pin responsibility for the shutdown on Democrats.