On Jan. 9, Trump told lawmakers to seek a bipartisan solution on immigration and signaled that he would sign whatever they put in front of him. Two days later, he flatly rejected a plan brought to him by Graham, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and others, helping to set back talks on avoiding a government shutdown that will happen at midnight if Congress cannot reach a deal.
Graham, who said he will not support a temporary funding bill passed by the House when the Senate takes it up Friday, sees Trump policy advisor Stephen Miller as part of the problem.
"The Stephen Miller approach to immigration has no viability. Tuesday, the president was in a good place. He was the president of all of us," Graham told MSNBC on Friday. "He spoke compassionately about immigration, tough on security, wanted bipartisanship. Two days later, there was a major change."
"I think the change comes about from people like Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller is well known in the Senate for having views that are outside the mainstream," he added.