“What I tell people is that if you put your head in the sand and say we don’t want anything done, that you’re acknowledging that you just want what we have,” Paul told reporters at the Capitol. “We have 11 million people who’ve come in here illegally over — I don’t know, the last couple of decades. If we do nothing, another 11 million comes, so I mean, doing nothing I think is really not a great answer.”

Bush, who’s still deciding whether to run and is keeping a low profile in the meantime, isn’t backing down either. “Gov. Bush’s position is clear — we have a broken, unsustainable system,” an aide said Wednesday.

Even Rubio, who quieted down quickly after taking heat from Republicans for his role in the Senate immigration reform bill, said Wednesday that he’s still a supporter.

“Immigration has never been an issue that is a politically popular one. There’s legitimate concerns about rule of law,” Rubio told reporters. “I don’t know about others, but I knew that going in. I just legitimately feel that this is an issue that is hurting America and needs to be addressed.”