question. why are they doing this? is this a good idea? in report after report, the border patrol has said its top goal is gaining operational control of the nation's borders. meaning law enforcement can detect and respond to illegal activity. with $3 billion spent on just the southern border last year, how are they doing? a recent gao report says 44% of the southern border and only 2% of the northern border meet the definition. now homeland security has decided it will measure border security a different way that better reflects the impact of new technology. operational control, once the holy grail of border security, is being scrapped. that is a very narrow term of art in border patrol lingo and doesn't and should not be construed as kind of an overall assessment of what's happening. >> reporter: for the time being, dhs will measure numbers on