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Bob's Blog: Senate nears a deal on immigration reform

The big question in Washington right now...how difficult will it be to get an immigration bill through the Congress?

Well just yesterday, the House unexpectedly voted down the farm bill after Republican leadership was unable to secure enough votes from its own party. Now there is concern that the same thing might happen on the immigration bill if and when it passes the Senate and is sent to the House for a vote.

The Senate has brokered an immigration deal that centers around Sen. Bob Corker's (R-TN) amendment to significantly enhance security at the nation's borders, including doubling the number of border patrol agents on the US-Mexico border. Most people think this amendment will convince many more Republicans to vote for this bill. But the surprising failure of the Farm Bill yesterday raised questions -- if in fact the Senate is able to pass the immigration bill, what will happen to it when it get to the house?

What I find it interesting, disheartening and somewhat disappointing about this debate is that even when both sides want to do something they still cannot figure out how to get it done. Republicans say that negotiation is not happening because the President makes speeches and does not engage in conversation about the issues. That is interesting because it seems that now everyone is making speeches and not listening to one another. We're facing the same reality that we've faced for the past couple of years: we have a Congress that is basically unable to do anything.

This weekend we are going to have Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) on Face the Nation to talk to us about this immigration bill and his specific proposal to strengthen border security. We will also talk to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who opposes the bill. These interviews should shed light on the dimensions of the immigration fight that's happening within the Republican party.

We'll also continue our coverage of the NSA surveillance story. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, will bring us the latest news on that subject.

Finally, we'll get an update from CBS' own Clarissa Ward on what is happening in Syria and Afghanistan. And we'll get analysis from John Dickerson of CBS News, Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal, Susan Page of USA Today and Bobby Ghosh of Time Magazine.

Lots to talk about, because this is Face the Nation!

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