In a statement Hatch acknowledged the "status quo" isn't working, but he said more time is needed to reach a consensus.

"The good in it was completely overshadowed by its glaring flaws," Hatch said in a statement. "Some of its provisions are unworkable and ineffective. And most people believe it is far too lenient on those who broke the law to get here, and we must be fair to those who are in the process of immigrating the right way."

However, the two Cabinet secretaries insisted that the status quo is not working and the only ones who win under the current status are those breaking the law.

Chertoff said that without the enforcement tools in the bill, those producing fraudulent identities "are the big winners" because the government does not have what it needs to enforce the law.

"We really desperately need more tools to make our enforcement effort more effective," Chertoff said. "Those people who are opposing the bill are opposing giving us the tools to fight the very battle that they are urging us to continue to fight. It's like putting troops in a battle but saying we're not going to give you the weapons that you really need to do the job."

---

E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com; dbulkeley@desnews.com