
Sen. Rand Paul said Monday that the immigration reform debate should be halted until Congress first understands what went wrong in Boston, where two brothers who came to the U.S. legally under the asylum program have been accused of the deadly bombings at last week's marathon.

"Behind Closed Doors" was a Grammy-winning country hit for Charlie Rich in the 1970s, describing a good time where no one could see, but it's a terrible way to write laws, particularly laws as complex and controversial as immigration reform.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano needs to explain how she's going to remove the drug scouts from Arizona's mountaintops. It's a serious question for those of us who live in Arizona. Our senators can ask her on Friday when she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee to talk about the immigration reform proposal.

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez said Thursday that President Obama squandered his chance to take the lead on immigration, and said the best role the president can play now is to cheer along the progress in Congress and try to rally support outside the Capitol.

Emerging from a meeting Tuesday with key negotiators of a Senate immigration bill, President Obama gave the legislation his stamp of approval.

Gun control supporters scrambled to find 60 votes to pass expanded background checks on firearms purchases, hoping to sway reluctant senators ahead of a showdown vote.

After months of negotiations, the Gang of Eight senators were poised to file their immigration bill late Tuesday evening, striking a deal to immediately legalize most illegal immigrants and ease the path for future legal immigrants in exchange for promises of much stiffer border security, backed up by verifiable yardsticks.

Republicans have ramped up attacks on President Obama's pick to head the Labor Department, releasing a scathing report that says Thomas E. Perez abused his power and negotiated a dubious deal while serving as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.