Biden is looking at options for the border. But he's running into legal issues

President Biden told governors on Friday that he is looking at options for executive action to curb the flow of migrants across the southern U.S. border but said that existing laws and a lack of funding were limiting his choices.

The White House has been considering its next steps since Republicans in Congress backed away from a Senate compromise that would have empowered the administration to turn away migrants seeking asylum when certain thresholds were reached. The failed bill would have provided about $20 billion for border personnel — as well as aid for states and cities that have exhausted their resources while grappling with record numbers of asylum-seekers.

The border has become a major issue in the presidential election, with a recent NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll showing only 29% of respondents approving of how Biden is handling immigration.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said no decisions have been made on executive actions on the border, and declined comment on any specific option being considered. But Biden told governors it's something he's examining.

"He did say that he has been working with his attorneys, trying to understand what executive action would be upheld in the courts and would be constitutional," said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican.

"He seemed a little frustrated that he was not getting answers from attorneys that felt he could take the kind of actions that he wanted to," Cox told reporters after a meeting Biden held with the National Governors Association.

What could Biden do on his own?

There was a spate of stories this week that Biden would try to implement a major feature of the failed Senate bill on his own: a measure that would block new asylum claims when the number of