When the optics of your policies are so bad that your wife and daughter are giving you hell to change them, you don't have much choice. "When mamma's unhappy everyone is unhappy," applies to heads of state as well as to the rest of us. (for particularly dense readers, the previous paragraph was tongue in cheek)

Clearly ending the separation of parents and children is a good thing and should be done. Yet this is not a solution.

Why not? Because unlike new legislation, it doesn't address the Flores decision. That 2015 decision, in response to the Obama administration policy of incarcerating the huge influx of Central American illegals as mothers together with children, made the following rulings.

• That families could only be detained together for a limited amount of time

• That facilities used for family detention had to be non-secure and licensed for child care.

• That unless the family was a flight risk or a danger to national security, and there was no option for releasing just the child (relative or legal guardian not incarcerated,)then both parents and children must be released.

Today's Trump Executive Order to keep families together while detained is now subject to these existing restrictions. Which is no doubt exactly why Sen. Schumer and Rep. Pelosi insisted no new law was necessary, all that was needed was an Executive Order. Without a new law to address the Flores restrictions, ICE will have to return to the "catch and release" policy implemented under Obama in response to this ruling. Families were released with a court order to appear. Amazingly, many seemed to forget the appearance date or otherwise inadvertently overlooked their obligation.

Once again Congress has punted on immigration reform. Let's clearly state what the Dems really want - open borders. Preferably as dictated by judicial decision. So they remain blameless.