Fox News "The Story" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Michael McCaul

Interview

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SMITH: Joining me now, one of the congressmen who just met with President Trump. Texas Republican Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Mr. Chairman, thank you for your time tonight. We know you just spent a few moments with the president.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL , R-TEXAS, CHAIRMAN, HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Thank you, Sandra.

SMITH: What was he thinking, saying in that meeting? What came out of that?

MCCAUL: He's very enthusiastic, optimistic, he expressed in his words. He said, "I'm a thousand percent behind what you're trying to pass in the House. There will be two bills going to the floor on Thursday, the McCaul- Goodlatte bill, the original version, and then, the modified version.

Both are very similar in terms of the four pillars, border security as the president wants and both provide for a DACA fix. And I think, importantly on this issue of family separation, it also addresses that issue because it will detain the family as a unit rather than separate them out.

SMITH: What happens if you find out that it's not a family member, it's not a parent that's traveling over the border with that child?

MCCAUL: Well, that's the fundamental problem. As we've neglected the border in this crisis. In 2014, we had 20 million of these children crossing it's enticing to come over. And so, we have a lot of fraudulent parents. People that aren't even their parents saying they are the parents.

Now, as you know under the president's policy, the parents are now being prosecuted but we would like to see the families stay together or not separated. But I think, most importantly from my position as the chairman of Homeland Security is to have a border security bill passed for the first time since we passed the Secure Fence Act in 2006, that's a long time ago.

And this also fundamentally changes immigration to a merit-based system rather than a random lottery system or chain migration.

SMITH: How would success be measured ultimately if any of these eventually passed, the president signs it. And how do you -- how do you measure success down at the border as far as these crossings and detainments are concerned?

MCCAUL: One thing metrics are important. I think the operation could control the border, and you can't quantify that in terms of how many people are illegally -- it's illegally entering the country. And the fact is because we have these legal loopholes, and the beginning when Trump had the rhetoric about the wall, and such the numbers went way down.

The problem is they know that was just a rhetoric and that Congress has to change the laws and the legal loopholes. Otherwise, if they come they can stay. And that's the message that the smugglers and traffickers are selling to these victims at the price of six thousand dollars a person bringing them into the country.

We will never stop this problem until we dry up the deterrent issue and the legal loopholes that exist thoroughly.

SMITH: Mr. Chairman, I don't have to tell you emotions are high right now. And America is seeing these images down at our border, of these children being separated from their parents. When you look on at that and you see the disgust from the American people and even from members of your own party and on the other side of the aisle, what is being left out of this national conversation based on what you see every day?

MCCAUL: Well, I've been down to the detention centers many times and I was down in 2014. It is a very -- from -- on a human level, it is very -- it's very difficult and hard to see. But again, Sandra, we're not going to stop this problem. It's going to continue to keep going on and on until we fix our immigration system. And that's what we're trying to do on Thursday, in addition of fixing DACA.

I hope the Democrats will want to work with us to fix separation families issue.

SMITH: Do you think they do want to work with you?

MCCAUL: I would hope they would. I am concerned though, Sandra. They would prefer to use this as a campaign issue in the 20 -- you know, 18 midterm elections which I think is shameful because we have a real opportunity -- historic, to fix both the security issue and the DACA issue on a compassionate level which as the president said about 80% of the American people approve.

SMITH: Chairman Mike McCaul, we appreciate your time. Fresh out of that meeting with the president and your fellow Republicans, thank you.

MCCAUL: Thank you, Sandra.

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