Graham: 'Shame On Us as Republicans' For Not Solving Immigration

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday he is disappointed with House Republicans for not generating a solution to immigration — and gave a slight "maybe" nod when asked if he is planning to seek the GOP nomination in 2016.

"Shame on us as Republicans," Graham told CNN "State of the Union" correspondent Gloria Borger. "Shame on us as Republicans for having a body that cannot generate a solution to an issue that is national security, that's cultural, and it's economic."

And the immigration question led to another: Graham's plans for 2016. When Borger pressed Graham on the question, he responded that immigration is foremost in his mind.

"I'm thinking of trying to fix illegal immigration and replacing sequestration," he told her. "I'll let you know if I think about running for president. It's the hardest thing one could ever do. You go through personal hell, you've got to raise a lot of money. I'm nowhere near there."

And then, as she pressed him for a "maybe," he gave a nod, then told her "that's what it was. It's what I just said."

But mostly, Graham said he is "so disappointed in my country, my party and my president" on immigration because "This is an unacceptable outcome."

Graham, meanwhile, believes President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration is unconstitutional.

"It's one thing to say as an executive agency, I don't have the money to prosecute everybody or to deport everybody so I'm going to rank them in order," said Graham. "It's another for the president of the United States to say, not only will I decide not to prosecute a group of people but I will affirmatively give you legal status. That is well beyond executive action."

Graham, says he supports a solution that is comprehensive, but "you do it through a congressional action where you get the entire system fixed."

Obama has "made a political decision" on immigration, Graham said, and he is trying to divide the Republican Party while taking the presidency to unprecedented levels.

"He's created an executive action that I think flies in the face of checks and balances and he had two years of a Democratic-controlled House and Senate with super majorities and never lifted a finger," said Graham. "I just said my party has failed. This president has failed miserably and has made it worse."

Related stories:

• Obama Urges Critics to 'Pass a Bill' on Immigration
• Obama's Claims on Illegal Immigration Face a Fact Check