problem.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Hernandez said the migrant children with a parent in the United States had rights.

"They have rights, and we want them to be respected," he said.

Washington needed to understand that the violence in Central America stemming from drug trafficking had enormous costs, he added. Obama acknowledged in the meeting that Washington had a responsibility to counter the drug trade.

Obama's drive to tackle the migrant crisis with $3.7 billion in emergency government funds is in trouble because the deeply divided Congress leaves on a month-long recess late next week and is increasingly unlikely to approve the money.

Republicans want Democrats to agree to a change in a 2008 anti-trafficking law to speed deportations before agreeing to a pared-down version of Obama's request. Democrats do notplans some steps to ease the overall U.S. immigration problem with a series of executive actions at the end of the summer.

Political divisions are so deep that a top White House adviser warned that Republicans might seek the president's ouster through impeachment when he announces the new actions aimed at getting around congressional gridlock.

Republicans in the House of Representatives are expected to authorize a lawsuit against Obama next week on charges he has overstepped his constitutional authority by signing a series of executive orders this year on issues such as raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers.

Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer, speaking at a reporters' breakfast organized by the Christian Science Monitor, said he could easily see Republicans moving to impeachment proceedings.

"The president acting on immigration reform will