incident to police. that does it for us this hour. our coverage continues with "katy tur reports," right now. good to be with you. i'm katy tur. what is president biden hoping to get out of today's executive order allowing him to seal the southern border? he made the announcement just a few minutes ago saying the influx of migrants is unsustainable. quote, for those who say the steps i've taken are too strict, i say to you be patient. the goodwill of the american public is wearing thin right now. doing nothing is not an option. we have to act. he also said that without immigration reform, specifically the immigration bill which was crafted by a bipartisan team of senators and leaned conservative, by the way, signing an executive order was his only remaining option. that order is definitely going to go to the courts. the aclu has already said it plans on suing. and a number of progressive lawmakers including the congressional hispanic caucus are crying foul, saying this isn't what democrats want and that biden risks losing some liberals in the next election. so what exactly is the calculus? how much of it has to do with the real world situation on the ground, and how much of it is campaign politics? we have two guests to help us understand. the mayor of laredo, texas and the governor of new york, who both can tell us what their localities are experiencing with the influx of migrants and what their voters are demanding. we also wonder if there is something else that president biden or congress can do to immediately ease the situation. we do have something in mind that we want to ask. joining us now first to talk about the reporting and to walk through all of the elements of this executive order, nbc news white house correspondent monica alba. and to talk us through the polling on the issue nbc news senior political editor marc murray. so monica, president biden was very direct. he said the reason i have to do this is because the republicans in the senate and congress are following the word of donald trump when donald trump vetoed, basically killed in the cradle this immigration bill because he wanted to run on a crisis at the border in this campaign cycle. walk us through what biden is going to do with this executive order. what powers does it give him? >> well, it gives him the authority, katy, to temporarily shut down the border to asylum seekers who are trying to cross unlawfully. but it doesn't apply to those who still want to go to ports of entry and apply in a legal pathway manner, which is available. but we know that the majority of crossings and daily encounters on the border of course take place from people through mexico who are trying to cross into the u.s. illegally. so this is the biden administration's attempts to really curb that. and we are going to see this essentially in effect immediately though likely there will be certain court challenges and lawsuits as you mentioned that they are already bracing for. but this is the president who has come a long way on immigration, saying i promised certain things as candidate joe biden, i ran on rolling back former president trump immigration policies, but the fact of the matter is as he said he couldn't do nothing. that was not an option. and he said that he is hearing from democratic governors and mayors all the time about the need to do something to crack down on this. so this is his answer. and this authority would have been a part of that bipartisan border bill. it would have been enshrined in that and it would have given him permission to do this same thing at the border. but because that was torpedoed he said he also had to go this route though he would have preferred to reach across the aisle and work with republicans. now, we have to point out that essentially if crossings fall to 1,500 a day, right now the threshold trigger is 2,500, we're well above that mark. we're right around 4,000 daily crossings according to department of homeland security officials. if it comes back down to something around on average 1,500 people then the border would reopen and they would reassess. and the president in his remarks did hint that he may have some other measures to roll out in the coming weeks about trying, he argued, to make the immigration system fairer. but we know, katy, that really this is about a political vulnerability as well as the policy aspects to all this. >> what about the courts here? because donald trump tried something similar in 2018, monica, the courts blocked it. the aclu is already promising the biden administration on this one. there's a decent chance of an injunction before this power can go into effect. they had to have known that. >> they're fully bracing for that. and in fact, they studied specifically what the former president tried to do and they tried to have some humanitarian carveouts and make some adjustments so they believe this could stand up better in court. that includes unaccompanied minors, for instance, that are trying to cross. this would not apply to them regardless of the thresholds and the daily crossings. or victims of severe human trafficking. so they're trying to say that actually they really studied what the former president did and what his administration tried to put into law and couldn't and instead made some tweaks to it they hope to be successful. but certainly the irony is very clear here and there are democrats who are saying that this is a policy that you could have seen under the trump administration and not one they expected to see under the biden white house. >> monica alba. thank you so much for starting us off. marc murray, let's talk about the politics of this. what is the calculation that president biden is making that? he made a point to say that the good will of the american public is running then, that he can't do nothing. >> yeah. and katy, a lot of this is trying to seem like he is doing something. in focus groups i've listened to from undecided voters they oftentimes point to some of the inaction that is coming on the border from the president as one of the demerits against him. monica ended up mentioning that this seems to be trying to shore up a political vulnerability. and katy, in our own polling, in our april 2024 nbc news poll just 28% of american voters ended up approving of the job the president was doing on immigration. in a poll that we had a year ago in 2023 our poll had republicans with an 18-point advantage over democrats on what party better handles immigration. that was the highest lead republicans have ever enjoyed on that and the worst deficit the democrats have ever had. you end up looking at this issue, and this has been a losing issue for democrats. and president biden and democrats are trying to do something to shore up that weakness. >> by the way, the migration policy institute says biden has taken more than 500 executive actions on immigration since he took office, a lot more than donald trump did. that being said you cite polling that talks about donald trump and how voters feel about the democrats and this issue. i want to throw a couple more at you. there's a cnn poll from january that asked voters if trump was re-elected are you in favor of him detaining and deporting millions of undocumented immigrants? in favor of that, nearly 50%. 48% of voters. also a galup poll. a study, 27% of americans say the most important problem facing the u.s. is immigration. and then when we're talking about biden's base, the warning from progressive democrats from the congressional hispanic caucus is that he's going to lose progressive democrats and he potentially is going to lose hispanics. here's some peru polling. would making it harder for asylum seekers to be granted temporary legal status while awaiting asylum hearings make the border situation better? 29% say yes. 27% say no, it would make it worse. no difference is 20%. so when they're doing the calculations about where the american public stands it seems like they're skewing toward the middle here, the moderate voter. why do they believe the moderate voter is the better target for them than the progressive voter? >> yeah, katy, with five months before the general presidential election it does become about the moderate or persuadable voters. those are the ones that are up for grabs whether the other voters have already made up their minds in a rematch facing president biden and donald trump. you actually did mention that yes, this does divide the democratic party. and this is a dilemma. do you end up trying to take action and do something like they did today that is going to displease the left but maybe win over the middle of the electorate and they decided to bank on that it's more to focus right now on the middle. i also go back to what i was saying earlier, that trying to basically take a very public action when it comes to the border -- and katy, also importantly, this action will end up decreasing the number of border crossings. it's absolutely guaranteed to do that. and that is a metric this white house and administration has paid a lot of attention to with election day approaching. >> marc murray. marc, thank you very much. all right. let's talk about this in regards to a blue state. joining us now is the democratic governor of new york, kathy hochul. so this is an issue in blue states, especially in the northeast, in chicago, because of the busing and the flying in of migrants by republicans in red states, in texas and in florida. there are so many more mie migrants in the city than we had seen in the recent past. you were with president biden at the signing of this executive order. tell me why you think this is a great idea. >> it's a great idea because you have to deal with -- if the republicans had not listened to donald trump four months ago they would have done it the way you're supposed to do it. you pass it through congress. it was a bipartisan deal. money for border agents. money for interdiction of drugs. money for technology. and they refused to do it because they thought it would give president biden a win. he did not want to have to do this. but this is what we have to deal with. we can't ignore the fact that while we are a kind and generous people in new york state and we're proud of the statue of liberty we are at capacity right now because we've had over 200,000 people come over in the last two years. so this will give us a place -- little bit of a pause on this, let people apply for asylum legally before they get to the borders. and we need more judges and a better process. but president biden's been trying to get immigration reform since his first day in office. so this should not come as a surprise to anybody. you have to do an end run every once in a while and that's exactly what today is all about. >> let me ask you about the cost here because we have some numbers. this is from the comptroller's office, the new york city office of management and budget. this is data they've compiled. in the fiscal year of 2023 the estimated cost of asylum seekers for new york city was 1.5 billion. for 2024 it's projected to be 4.7 billion. and for next year, 2025, 6.1 billion. that is a whole lot of money. and that's even before president biden seals this border. where is this money going to come from? >> that's the city of new york. the state of new york has also had to provide resources to house these individuals, get them legal services and try to get them into jobs. >> i will tell you this. i have a dual problem. we have a lot of people who come looking for a better life. we're trying to manage the scale. i think today is important to give us some breathing room. but also, i have a lot of jobs that are open. i want them to get work permits so they can fill the thousands of jobs that we've identified for them. so the costs are high. they're too high. we could use much more help with the money. but -- >> on that -- let's talk about the point of getting them jobs. the federal government says they've got to wait six months when they cross the border. they seek asylum but then they have to wait six months for a work permit. why is president biden not signing an executive order to try to make that a shorter amount of time so they can get jobs -- >> a lot of these migrants coming in they're not just standing on the side of the street and begging for a handout. they are trying to make money. they're trying to sell things. they're trying to hustle up work in the city. as you said there are a number of jobs you have open. wouldn't fixing that extremely long waiting period help things? >> that is another area where they can change the law. congress can change the law to make that a shorter time frame. absolutely, i agree with you that they should. the biden administration is working hard to get the work authorizations. but there are backlogs because guess what, once again we don't have the money allocated from congress. the money comes from congress. anything that's going to kocht a dime to help facility this processing or to help us manage the flow or help them get the jobs, congress is the only entity that can allocate the dollars. that's why republicans are so disingenuous. when members of congress or people who listened to donald trump when there was a viable plan on the table, you have no right to complain right now. you have no moral authority on this one because you refused to do your jobs. >> the -- just going one more on the work permitting process part of the issue according to reporting, and this has maybe been address aid little in recent months, but mayor adams just didn't have the organization set up to tell asylum seekers and the migrants that are here that they are el vibl to work after six months and that there are thousands of people that were in the shelter system costing hundreds of dollars a day that were actually able to work, they were eligible to work. they just didn't know. is there a way to make sure that information is there, that it's in all the languages it needs to be in to get these people working? >> you've hit on an area which has been frustrating. because of privacy and laws that are in place to protect individuals' personal data, only the federal government can let them know when they've been approved for work authorization, not the state or the city. they literally text people. they have a wait to communicate with them and tell them where to go for the next step. so it is imperfect now, but we know the path forward will be better. but also just having fewer people to deal with on a daily basis to take the pressure off, let out some of the steam, that is going to make a huge difference. those are the changes we hope to see as a result of president biden standing up today. >> i want to ask you about politics here. the republicans and former president trump want to use this as an issue in the upcoming elections. former president trump obviously believes this is a winning issue for him. how do you see it affecting the state of new york? >> they have no leg to stand on. and that's my point. there are ten republican members of congress who represent the state of new york. you have as much clout as that freedom caucus. go in to speaker johnson's office this afternoon, demand that on behalf of your constituents and people all over america, change the laws. go forth with the bipartisan plan that was negotiated by conservative senators, republican senators, and democrats. go back to where we were a few months ago. you have no right to complain because you just bought this problem. >> i would node that tom suozzi razz ran into this issue when he was running for george santos's open seat, trying to take it away from republicans. even mentioning there was an immigration bill. governor kathy hochul -- in long island, by the way. governor, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> coming up a mayor of a texas town that is on the front lines of this crisis joins us for a red state perspective. plus, i will not be intimidated. that is what attorney general merrick garland said to congress when he was forced to testify. we are back in 90 seconds. in here, you can expect to find crystal clear audio, expansive display space, endless entertainment, and more comfort for everyone. but even with all that... we still left room for all the unpredictability, spontaneity and unexpected things you'll find out here. the new 2024 grand cherokee lineup. jeep. there's only one. nothing dims my light like a migraine. with nurtec odt, i found relief. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. it's time we all shine. talk to a healthcare provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. i am obsessed with olay's retinol body wash. with olay retinol body wash, 95% of women had visibly renewed skin. it makes my skin feel so smooth and moisturized. see the difference with olay. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. all right. let's talk to a red state lawmaker about president biden's executive order on immigration. joining us now -- i'm sorry, first we're going to go to the reporting. joining us now from san ysidro, california is nbc news national correspondent david noriega. david, i was jumping the gun there. i'm so sorry. i want to get some reporting from the ground. talk to me about what you're seeing at that border site in particular. is the -- are the daily numbers as high as they have been? >> reporter: so the short answer is yes. the numbers have been higher in the san diego sector actually than they were a year ago, higher even than they were in december. that's just for this sector. borderwide they're down substantially from the record highs of december. katy, the main thing i've been learning in just the last couple of hours is there's a pretty big difference between what this executive order looks like on paper and what biden and other democrats are using it to say they are doing in terms of shutting down the border saying they're taking dramatic action et cetera and what it looks like it will actually -- how it will actually play out on the ground. i'm pretty skeptical at this point that this is going to have any kind of immediate measurable dramatic result in terms of the number of people crossing. and there's a very specific reason for that. a lot of us on this beat expected that this border shutdown authority would be premised on the idea that the biden -- that the biden administration would have the authority to summarily expel migrants, asylum seekers, immediately to mexico, immediately after they crossed, which is what was happening under title 42, which did in fact have a pretty dramatic effect on the number of people crossing the border. that is apparently not the case. i've spoken to two next kavn immigration officials today who have said they have gotten no indication there's a plan to receive more migrants. mexico has to cooperate with any additional expulsions. the u.s. can't just push people back over the border without mexico's help. and white house officials said on a press call this morning that mexico was going to continue receiving the already limited set number of migrants that it has agreed to receive from a limited set number of countries. if that doesn't change, katy, then the number of people who set foot on american soil and then enter removal proceedings, theoretically they could be deported more quickly because what this executive order does is it doesn't grant them access to