HERSHEY, Pa. — Just one day after the House of Representatives passed legislation rolling back several of President Obama’s immigration policies, GOP lawmakers from both chambers of Congress are expressing skepticism about whether the bill will win approval in the Senate.

“We want to give our members an opportunity to vote and express their opposition to the president’s action,” Sen. John Thune of South Dakota told reporters at the GOP’s joint retreat in Hershey, Pa. “But we also realize at the end of the day that in the Senate, it is going to take 60 votes.”

For the first time in a decade, Republican members of the House and Senate gathered in the Sweetest Place on Earth for a two-day retreat to lay out their policy plans for the 114th Congress.

On day one of the retreat, immigration was a hot topic.

GOP lawmakers boarded buses bound for Pennsylvania yesterday after the House approved a bill 236-191 funding the Department of Homeland Security through the end of September. The House also passed five amendments, including one that rolls back Obama’s recent executive actions and another ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

In November, Obama announced his plans to defer deportation to 5 million illegal immigrants and give them work permits.

The amendment to end DACA, which narrowly passed 218-209, proved to be more contentious among lawmakers. The program allows children who entered the country illegally to stay. (See the full roll call vote.)

The bill will now head to the Senate, where Republicans hold a majority for the first time in eight years.

“We want to give our members an opportunity to vote and express their opposition to the president’s action. But, we also realize at the end of the day that in the Senate, it’s going to take 60 votes,” says @SenJohnThune.

House leaders said they believe the vote shows that the Republican conference is united in protesting Obama’s immigration policies. Still, others—including some in the Senate—believe further debate over immigration is needed.

“We’ve been elected by the public to address real issues,” Rep. Jeff Denham of California told reporters in Hershey today. “This is a real issue that we’ve got to come to terms with, and it’s time for us to put together a plan, not just principles.”

>>> House Votes to Undo 4 Years of Obama’s Immigration Policies

Denham was one of 26 Republicans who voted against the amendment to end DACA.

Though the Senate still may choose to vote on the House’s legislation in its current form, Denham said he’d support a “clean” bill that simply funds the department without amendments.

Denham hinted that GOP lawmakers need to put forth their own reforms to better the nation’s immigration system.

“Republicans need to show leadership now on what we’re for, and what types of immigration reforms we want to see,” Denham said.

Denham told reporters he has been in contact with senators who have concerns about the legislation passed by the House yesterday. However, he wouldn’t elaborate on their concerns or address which senators had issues.

“It’s hard to predict what will come out of the Senate,” he said.

Still, Denham contended that immigration is an issue of importance to the public, and he advised his colleagues not to “play politics” with the issue.

“The underlying bill is a great bill that improves our security along the border with border patrol agents and improves funding with the TSA [Transportation Security Administration],” Denham said. “I think there are important issues within the DHS bill that we cannot afford to play politics on.”

Thune, the senator from South Dakota, would not speculate on what the Senate will actually do.

But he repeatedly noted that it would take 60 votes to break a Democratic filibuster, as if to note the challenge ahead.

“Ultimately, we recognize the important role the Department of Homeland Security plays in this country and the fact that it needs to be resourced in order to do that,” Thune said. “We think the president overstepped his authority and acted in an unlawful way. But there may be different ways and approaches to this issue that we can get the point across. We’ll see.”

>>> Mike Lee: ‘Some’ Senate Democrats Would Support Defund of Obama’s Immigration Action

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