To show video provided by the government. The images that we have seen are enough, though, for many members of congress. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell last hour announcing that the gop conference supports keeping Families Together. And in just a couple of hours, the president will be on capitol hill, meeting with Congressional Republicans on the house side on this issue. Well see if he has heard that outcry or if hes listening, instead, to the people who applaud his policy. All we need is good legislation. We can have it taken care of. What im asking congress to do is to give us an option, Legal Authority to detain and promptly remove Families Together as a unit. Child smugglers exploit the loopholes and they gain illegal entry into the United States. They come up through mexico. Mexico does nothing for us. You hear it here, they do nothing for us. They have very, very strong laws. Try staying in mexico for a couple of days. See how long that lasts, okay . Our reporters will be reporting live throughout the hour. We want to start in texas, where nbc news Kerry Sanders is on a ranch there. Kerry, tell us where you are, why youve come here. I understand youre talking to some Trump Supporters who are possibly supportive of the president s policy here . Reporter indeed. First of all, let me set the stage where we are, 33,000acre ranch, cage ranch, 6300 head of cattle, about 60 miles from the border. For three generations the cage family has had this property and for three generations theyve seen a constant flow of people walking across their property. These are the undocumented migrants making their way into the United States. And joining us are the cages. You support the president s policy. I guess the first question to you is when you see parents and children separated, why do you support a policy that appears to be, to many people, heartless . Its basically the laws of our land. Trump, i believe, is going the right direction. This, i think, will be a deterrent to keep this from happening. If people adhere to the laws of our land, it wouldnt be a problem right now. Stephanie, youre a mother, a grandmother of seven. How do you react when you see that the families are being split apart . We heard what we believe is audio of children crying for their parents. I of course, it is very upsetting, but im as equally as upset with the parents for exposing their children to the dangers of smuggling their children across the border. These are parents who start in el salvador, guatemala. They got on a train known as the beast and they make this trip. They say theyre fleeing a violence that is forcing them to leave. I see you shaking your head. Well, i think certainly there is some of that. But i think thats very much exaggerated. I think very few cases are caused by that. I think most of them are just coming over here to try to make a better life in this country and all this country has to offer. Reporter stephanie as people are arriving and you say you believe this would be a deterrent we dont have actual numbers to indicate it is a deterrent. We dont. Reporter so where does that leave not yet. I think it will show up sooner or later, if we keep it up. Reporter its a very political debate in our country. No doubt about that. Reporter do you believe that donald trump is still getting pressure from the republican party, his own party here, that this will stand . I think hes getting pressure from all sides. Reporter understandably . Well, i understand the big push for separation of the children from their mothers. That has got to be a real thats a big point. And thats so important. But still, we have to stay with the laws of our land. And if the laws arent right, Congress Change them. Reporter stephanie, you told me as many people might wonder if this is just heartless, explain to me on your property you have a large piece of property. Were six miles from a checkpoint. People coming into this country circumvent around and make their way through your property. How is it that you try to help them and also make sure theyre not breaking the laws . We have water stations on our property with flags. They have tall flags that can be seen from a distance. We have emergency beacons. We allow the Border Patrol unfettered access to the property. They can come any time and properly and look for people in distress. Our own cowboys patrol the property constantly. We have radios at home. We call for assistance whenever whenever anybody is in distress. Reporter its important to point all those things out. There are some pieces of property here where those items that you just listed dont exist and the Border Patrol dont have easy access. Meaning sometimes people walking through today we have a day thats cloudy but it can be extremely hot out here. Dehydration and death is common. Thats correct. In the last ten years weve had 100 deaths on this property alone. 100 deaths. And that part is just adults dying on this property. Its very upsetting to anyone. You would have to be heartless to know that. Reporter thank you both for sharing your thoughts. Well be moving up to another ranch a short distance from here. Casey, at that ranch the deaths of those that have been documented over the years not only include adults, as he just mentioned, but also children. But, you know, clearly this is a hot button topic and one that despite their thoughts on this, you know its going to be in the news for a while. Without a doubt. Reporter ca reporter kasie . Thank you, kerry. Who is this policy serving . A recent quinnipiac poll shows the president s decision as you know popular among americans with only 27 saying they support it and 66 saying theyre opposed. When you drill down, just that that poll to just the republicans, 55 say they support it and 35 are opposed. Joining me now, msnbcs stephanie ruhle. What have you heard from the time youve been on the ground there . Reporter people are saying the migrant situation is an issue but not a crisis. They need a bipartisan approach. We know president trump, it was a failure to say lets build a wall and have mexico say for t people here in the Rio Grande Valley, the relationship that they have with mexico, their neighbor and number one trading partner, is valuable. They dont understand this approach to go after mexico so hard and now to take these people seeking asylum, most of whom are trying to do it legally, and rip the mothers and children apart. Here is the thing, kasie. Whether youre talking about a humanitarian issue or economic issue, it doesnt make sense. These women and children are not stealing the jobs and opportunities of americans in a forgotten part of the country. If youre going to have a zero tolerance policy, is the president going to go after employers who are hiring undocumented immigrants and paying them less than minimum wage . Thus far, the answer is no. Well, steph, too, weve heard reports ive done some reporting on the Eastern Shore of maryland, for example, where they rely on many of these Migrant Workers and there have been crackdowns and there are, quite frankly, jobs open. Its affecting prices and whole industries. Reporter you are 100 right. I remember you were talking crabs down here. Theyre talking shrimp. These shrimp boats need employees. Those migrants want to take those jobs. People have told me there are loads of jobs, many jobs that americans dont want to fill. Theyve served a lot of Service Positions and construction positions. Its been very good for the company. When you think about community, the part unity is very important there. Its a warm and loving place, i have to say. Stephanie ruhle in mcallen, texas, thank you for bringing us your perspective. President trump is continuing to point the finger at basically everywhere except his own administration. He tweeted earlier, quote, democrats are the problem. And that they, quote, want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour in and infest our country. Almost 20 minutes later, the president tweeted, quote, now is the best opportunity ever for congress to change the ridiculous and obsolete laws on immigration. Lets revisit some of the mixed messaging weve been seeing so far from this Administration Just in the last 24 hours. I dont think its so much meant to be a deterrent. Its just trying to enforce a law. Why dont we have Congress Change the laws . Congress could fix this tomorrow. We have a longexisting policy. Multiple administrations have followed that outline when we may take action to protect children. Are you intending to send a message . I find that offensive. No. Because why would i ever create a policy that purposely does that . Are you considering this a deterrent . I see the fact that no one was being prosecuted for this as a factor in a fivefold increase in four years in this kind of ilLegal Immigration. So, yes, hopefully people will get the message and come through the border at the point of entry and not break across the border unlawfull unlawfully. It seems as though the question is not just what is the message for today but this hour, this minute. Jeff, we are headed up to the hill where perhaps the president will perhaps clarify, perhaps confuse what he wants down here. Whats your latest on what the white house wants the congress to do now that Mitch Mcconnell says republicans want to do something about this . Reporter every sign weve gotten so far is that the white house is reluctant to sign any lnlgsilation specif legislation specific with this issue because the president wants to use this issue as leverage to get Stricter Border enforcement and larger immigration bill. As you well know, that kind of thing takes time. Its certainly not going to happen this coming week. On the specific issue of what were dealing with now at the border, the department of Homeland Security today, case kasie, held a briefing for reporters not to offer new information. What they were trying to do was amplify or explain much of what Kristen Nielsen said yesterday. Children are being well take eb care of early ert in the day as she was speaking to sheriffs in new orleans, she said dont believe the press. Children are being well taken care of. I asked the question of these dhs officials, how does she know that . Is she getting hourly reports, psych evaluations . By what metric is she basing this that the kids being detained by the government are being well cared for . Officials just pointed to general standard practices, high standards, they said, for how they treat children in their care. They also said that younger children, children who present with special needs are held at specialized facilities, they say, that meet the same standards of state licensed facility facilities these Officials Say they have everything they need except, one could argue, the love and presence of their parents. To when we might see pictures of girls and toddlers since the government has only made available young teenage boys images to us. Take a listen. Where are the girls . Where are the young toddlers . I dont know. Im not familiar with those particular images. Do you know where the girls are . We have children in dhs care, both. As you know, most of the children after 72 hours are transferred to hhs. I dont know what pictures youre referencing. I would have to refer you to hhs. So the update is that now dhs says we can expect to see those governmentprovided images of girls and perhaps toddlers in detention, they say, within two days. Theyve been martialing resources to the border to get that information to us. Of course, it will be government provided footage and images. We are not allowed by the government to bring our own cameras into these facilities to capture these images firsthand. The other option would, of course, be transparency with the press. Geoff bennett at the white house, thank you very much. Reporter sure. Attorney general Jeff Sessions own church is accusing him of child abuse for spearh d spearheading this policy. Bringing church law charges, accusing sessions of child abuse, immorality, Racial Discrimination and, quote, disemnation of doctrines contrary to the standards of the Methodist Church. As members of the United Methodist church we teeply hope for a reconciling process that will help this longtime member of our connection step back from his harmful actions and work to repair the damage he is currently causing to immigrants, particularly children and families. Sessions is also criticized for using a bible verse, romans 13, for the separation. So far, sessions and the Justice Department have not responded to the complaint. Demanding action. Republicans and democrats in congress are calling on Jeff Sessions to put an immediate stop to what the white house calls inhumane and unamerican separation of families at the border so they can work on a legislative fix. Ill ask Chris Van Hollen if he has signed on to the letter. And at expedia, we dont think you should be rushed into booking one. Thats why we created expedias addon advantage. Now after booking your flight, you unlock discounts on select hotels right until the day you leave. Addon advantage. Discounted hotel rates when you add on to your trip. Only when you book with expedia. Billions of problems. Sore gums . Bleeding gums . Painful flossing . Theres a therabreath for you. Therabreath healthy gums oral rinse fights gingivitis and plaque and prevents gum disease for 24 hours. So you can. Breathe easy, theres therabreath at walmart. It has blamed their policy of separating their families at the border on lawmakers in congress. As they are making clear, this is the white houses responsibility and any legislative solution, it always takes a while. Now theres a push to put the separation on hold while capitol hill has a chance to get some work done. Ive got a letter on this very subject that hopefully will end some of this problem. What is the letter . What . What does the letter say . Basically says that we should not do this and cause people to suffer. Its not american to do this when we work for families and children and for keeping them together. And this is splitting families apart. We would like to see that end. That letter is for attorney general Jeff Sessions. And were told it should be delivered by the end of the day. For more on this, im joined by maryland senator Chris Van Hollen, who just visited a Detention Center down in texas. Senator, i want to, first of all, get your reaction to this letter. I also was just speaking with an aide, a top democratic aide about what Mitch Mcconnell had to say earlier today, saying the Republican Congress does not want this to continue and they want to work with democrats to try to pass something to fix the problem. But this aide told me that, quote, we have zero faith that this could go anywhere, that legislation is a path to a dead end. Its a snake pit and that its just further indication of the president potentially using a group of Vulnerable People as hostages. This aide referenced the dreamers as well. Do you agree with that assessment and is this the direction you want your leaders to go . Is there any chance of a narrow legislative fix for this problem . First, kasie, with senator hatchs letter, i havent seen the actual language. If he wants to write a letter to the attorney general, saying that this policy of separating kids from their families, from their moms and dads, is unamerican and it should stop right way and thats what hes going to say in the letter, im happy to join him. I obviously have to read it. Because that letter would make the point that this administration has the authority today to end this policy that they put in place just six weeks ago. Whenever the president says he Needs Congress help, congress on a bipartisan basis should say not true. Its all on you, mr. President. You change this had policy six weeks ago. As you said, i was at the border. Weve seen a huge increase in the number of kids who have been separated from their moms and dads. That is despicable. The president should not be using them as hostages to try to pass some other legislation on other immigration issues. Lets rescind the order. You can work on legislative proposals but lets not delay the reuniting of these families. Senator, you all are working on a massive defense spending bill. Its usually considered must pass. In these days who knows if that holds the same meaning it once did. This is obviously a vehicle where theres immense pressure for all of you to vote in favor of it and for the president to sign it. There are some proposals to add language to that that would end this policy. Do you think theres any chance that some democrats would be willing to attach a narrow fix to that bill to stop this this week . Kasie, the issue is what you were talking about earlier. If congress could really do a very narrow fix just on this issue and through a smart, humane way and get it through this process, we would do that. Problem is when one person puts an idea out, everybody else wants to add other stuff. Thats whats happening in the house, right . The president is trying to use this separating kids from their families as leverage to get other legislative changes on immigration, which is just outrageous. So, we do need to keep the focus on the white house. In the meantime, look, if you could actually do something quickly through congress that was narrow, sure. But lets not lose focus on the real issue, which is that the president of the United States made this inhumane and cruel decision. He can reverse it today. Lets