President Donald Trump will extend the March 5 deadline to end protections for those covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program if Congress doesn't act, said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
Lankford's comments were reported by The Washington Post.
The senator said he personally spoke to Trump about the issue, and the president reportedly assured him he was willing to "give it some more time" to allow Congress to help those covered under DACA.
"The president's comment to me was that, 'We put a six-month deadline out there. Let's work it out. If we can't get it worked out in six months, we'll give it some more time, but we've got to get this worked out legislatively,'" Lankford said Thursday night.
He added: "He wants a legislative solution. His focus was, 'We've got to get a legislative solution.'"
Trump had announced he would end the program, but give Congress six months to come up with a solution for those in it.
About 690,000 young people are now covered by DACA, according to the Post. The program protects immigrants brought to the U.S. without legal permission as children, The Hill reported.
The website reported that the president's daughter, Ivanka, said on Monday: "I personally am of the opinion, and the president has stated this, that we have to figure out a good solution that protects these innocent people, many of whom were brought to this country as children."