The Senate earlier this year passed a bipartisan immigration bill offering a chance at citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants and generally delivering on the goals Bush outlined.

But the House, which in 2005 passed a far-more-restrictive bill that would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally, is holding a series of time-consuming hearings on the subject, hearings that have been criticized as a political maneuver to delay the legislation and help Republican candidates in an election year.

Also Monday, Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., urged Bush to support a $3.7 billion emergency spending bill for border security, saying the money could kick start immigration negotiations with the House and reassure Americans that Congress is serious about border enforcement. "Right now, I think things are dead in the water," Cornyn said in a Capitol news conference.

Over the weekend, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said he and others in the House oppose what they say is amnesty in the Senate bill, which would allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country, work and eventually become legal residents after paying fines and taxes and learning English. In 2003, Hastert supported a bipartisan bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants to work in American agriculture and become eligible for legal residency, a step to American citizenship.