Immigration Reform News 2013: Obama Expresses Support for Bipartisan Senate Bill Ahead of Contentious Debate

President Obama has expressed his support for the bipartisan immigration bill created by the Senate over the last several months.

The president met with two of the architects of the bill, the leaders of the "Gang of Eight," Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.

As it is a bipartisan bill and a compromise for both sides, Obama acknowledged no one would be perfectly pleased with it.

"This bill is clearly a compromise, and no one will get everything they wanted, including me," Obama said in a statement. "But it is largely consistent with the principles that I have repeatedly laid out for comprehensive reform.

"As I told Senators Schumer and McCain, I stand willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that comprehensive immigration reform becomes a reality as soon as possible," Obama said.

While it has been a long road up until this point, the most difficult battles over the first real reform to the nation's ailing immigration system in decades are yet to come.

"This is the first step in what will be a very difficult but achievable process to fix the nation's broken immigration system once and for all," McCain and Schumer said in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

"A healthy, functioning immigration system is vital to securing the integrity of America's sovereign borders, advancing our economic growth, and protecting human dignity. We believe our legislation represents a responsible, humane and enduring solution to the problem of the millions who are here illegally while continuing to attract and assimilate some of the most skilled talent the world has to offer -- but only if we also make good on broken promises to secure U.S. borders and enforce the law. We look forward to the bill's full and fair consideration in both houses of Congress," they wrote.

The bill provides a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, a measure that will be contentious among many conservatives.

The bill also requires an increase in border security before moves toward citizenship can begin.