Washington Free Beacon editor in chief Matthew Continetti was less confident than other panelists Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has support in the Republican Party, arguing "we might see the end of DACA in the coming months."
DACA, which Obama initiated through an executive order while president, allows those who were brought to the U.S. at the age of 16 or younger by 2007, or those who overstayed their visas in the same timeframe, to have deferred status to live in the U.S. rather than return to their home country.
President Donald Trump will announce Tuesday whether he intends to scrap the policy, which he said he would do on the campaign trail.
This possibility has prompted some high-level Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.), Florida Gov. Rick Scott, and Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), to say that Trump should not end DACA and protect so-called dreamers.
Host Chuck Todd mentioned the GOP's internal disagreements on DACA and asked for Continetti's take.
"Complicating the issue is that the Republican Party itself is divided. All of the Republicans you quoted, Chuck, come from the pro-business moderate wing," Continetti said.
"The Chamber wing," Todd said, referencing the business lobby seen as a fixture of the Republican establishment.
"There are two other wings," Continetti contined. "One is the Tea Party conservatives who oppose DACA for separation of power reasons and, of course, you have the working-class populists who are for immigration restrictionism and want to reduce the number of legal immigrants admitted."
Continetti then said that these two wings could win out in the immigration fight over the pro-business faction.
"That's two lines of the party versus the pro-business moderate wing. I think we might see the end of DACA in the coming months," he said.