A member of President Donald Trump’s evangelical council raised eyebrows when he praised House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her immigration views but a fellow council member simply says there is room to disagree.

Trump advisor Dr. Samuel Rodriguez of the Association of Hispanic Evangelicals was one of five evangelical advisors who met Jan. 18 with Pelosi, who wants immediate legal status and eventual citizenship for so-called Dreamers.

A post-meeting story by The Washington Post described an “emotional news conference” to push for protecting the “dreamers.”

After the meeting, Rodriguez said America is better for Pelosi’s prophetic leadership.

Dr. Robert Jeffress, who is also on the president’s council, says the members don’t always agree on everything.

“On the immigration issue, there’s a variety of opinions on that issue,” Jeffress observes. “I’m sure there were a variety of opinions on the president’s comments about merit-based immigration. So I think there’s diversity when you get to secondary issues.”

The issue of immigration is secondary, he further explains, to issues such as religious liberty, the sanctity of marriage, and abortion.

Yet the immigration issue is front and center in American politics at the moment so can the council continue to work together despite the issue?

“Everybody wants a compassionate solution,” Jeffress replies. “There are some of us who believe that should be coupled with making sure our borders are secured, that both are important things to take care of, and I think both things can be accomplished.”

Rodriguez, meanwhile, is not the only Evangelical who has staked out a liberal position on immigration on the biblical mandate for compassion.

At a pro-life rally last Friday, during the March for Life weekend, Richard Stearns of World Vision suggested you can’t be pro-life and anti-illegal immigration. A border wall, he said, is like abortion.

“That is just absolutely ludicrous,” Jeffress responds. “Listen, the right to life is a God-given absolute right. There is no God-given absolute right to emigrate to the United States of America.”

It’s true that Christians should be loving and compassionate, he says, but the role of government is to protect its citizens and protect their freedoms, and that doesn’t mean turning the other cheek.

Read more at Trump’s evangelical council differs on immigration.