Romney wants a secure border and employer verification enforcement, which is part of a pending bill in the Senate, but he does take issue with the "Z visa."

"What it allows is people who have come here illegally to stay here for the rest of their lives — not necessarily as citizens; they have to wait 13 years to become citizens. That's not the point," Romney said during the debate. "The point is: Every illegal alien, almost every one, under this bill, gets to stay here. That's not fair to the millions and millions of people around the world that would love to come here, join with family members, bring skill and education that we need."

Romney said it is "not fair" that those who have come here illegally are put to the front of the line of those waiting to come into the country legally.

McCain said the legislation "weeds out those who shouldn't be here, and it gives others a chance to remain in this country.

"Look, this is a national security issue, first and foremost," McCain said. "Ever since 9/11, it's a national security issue."

Romney said he wants to enforce the law Congress passed in 1986 "and take that Z visa and make it temporary instead of a permanent right to stay in America."

The first question of the night was directed to Romney, asking if he thought it was a mistake to invade Iraq, knowing everything he knows right now. Romney called the question "non sequitur" and a "null set."

"I supported the president's decision based on what we knew at that time," Romney said. "I think we were underprepared and underplanned for what came after we knocked down Saddam Hussein."

He said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who is also LDS, was wrong.

"We did not lose the war in Iraq," Romney said. "And that's not the sort of thing you say when you have men and women in harm's way."

Within minutes, Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera sent a release titled "Real Time Romney Watch 1: Mitt misleads on Sen. Reid/Iraq War," pointing out that Reid has said the war "can only be won diplomatically, politically and economically."

The DNC spoke against Romney in an e-mail later in the evening, saying he "can't say when he'll decide if Bush's Iraq plan is working. Then he refuses to talk about it on the stump. Now he can't even say if he thinks the decision to go to war was as mistake!"

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said invading Iraq was "absolutely the right thing to do."

"It's unthinkable that you would leave Saddam Hussein in charge of Iraq and be able to fight the war on terror," Giuliani said.

McCain also said, "We did the right thing."

---

E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com