FOXNews.com: Staunch immigration reform critic Sen. Lee thinks bill will get the 70 Senate votes

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Staunch immigration reform critic Sen. Lee thinks bill will get the 70 Senate votes Jun 23rd 2013, 13:52 One of the Senate's strongest opponents to the chamber's sweeping immigration reform bill acknowledged Sunday that the legislation will likely pass this week with as many as 70 votes. Utah Sen. Mike Lee, among the most conservative Senate Republicans, told "Fox News Sunday" the bill is "likely to pass along those margins." Still, Lee remains steadfast, ahead of a likely vote Monday night or Tuesday, that passing the roughly 1,200-page bill is a mistake. He continues to argue that Congress should take a more step-by-step approach, starting with further securing the U.S.-Mexico border. "It could take years to implement the border-security measures," Lee said. The group of senators who crafted the legislation is trying to get 70 votes to show the bill has widespread bipartisan support in the Democrat-controlled chamber and to give it momentum as it heads into the Republican-controlled House with a more uncertain future. On Thursday, the Senate passed a so-called Border Surge amendment, which included 70,000 additional U.S. border agents and 700 more miles of border fencing, to garner support from lawmakers who said the influx of illegal immigrants remains a problem. Lee said the lawmakers crafted the bill with the "best intentions" but failed. "They said it is tough and fair, but it's neither," he told Fox. The bill would provide a years-long path to citizenship for the roughly 11 illegal immigrants now living in the U.S. Lee was joined on the show by South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the so-called Gang of Eight that helped craft the bill. "We are very, very close," Graham said. "The amendment gets us over the top." He argued he "sure as hell" wouldn't support a bill that did include border security and that the Republican Party has to be part of immigration reform to connect with Hispanics, who gave President Obama roughly 70 percent of their vote in 2012. "The party is in trouble with Hispanics," Graham said.

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