May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he opposes delaying consideration of immigration legislation until after the November midterm elections as fellow Republicans continued to disagree over whether illegal workers should have a path to U.S. citizenship.

``I know the politics are out there,'' Frist, from Tennessee, said on Fox News Sunday. ``It's not politically popular.'' Yet he urged negotiations to move forward even though the Senate's version of the legislation, which contains a guest worker program leading to citizenship, is ``not perfect.''

The Senate bill has divided Republicans at a time when they are trying to maintain control of Congress in the November midterm elections. All 435 seats in the House are up for grabs and a third of the Senate seats will be contested.

``They're busy fighting with each other,'' Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat who favors a path to citizenship, said on the CBS ``Face the Nation'' program. ``They're spending so much time trying to secure their base that we're able to reach out to mainstream Republicans in the middle.''

Most Republicans who face stiff competition in the November House elections oppose legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to become citizens because it might be seen as rewarding unlawful behavior, the Washington Post reported today, citing interviews with about half of the 40 most vulnerable congressman.

Border Security

The House passed a bill in December that focuses only on border security and enforcing immigration laws and has no guest worker program.

The Senate has approved legislation to strengthen border security, create a guest-worker program and provide a path to legal status for many of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants. The most difficult sticking point is a Senate provision that would let undocumented immigrants who've been in the U.S. longer than two years apply for legal status.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Representative James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican who will likely lead House negotiators when they meet with the Senate to forge a compromise and craft final legislation that can be approved by Congress and sent to the president, last week called the Senate plan a ``non- starter.''

`Amnesty Is Wrong'

Sensenbrenner said today on ``Meet the Press'' that he won't accept any legislation that puts illegal immigrants on the path to citizenship. ``Amnesty is wrong and we should not pass it,'' he said.

Senator Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, predicted that ``there will be political consequences'' if the Senate and House can't compromise.

``We're in the mess that we're in today on this issue because we've deferred this tough issue,'' Hagel said on NBC's ``Meet the Press.'' `` My dear friend Jim Sensenbrenner and those who think like Jim on this, they want to continue to defer it.''

Frist said that, while ``I don't agree with everything in the bill'' the Senate passed, ``it's a first step,'' and it's unrealistic to try to send all the illegal immigrants in the country home.

Republican House Majority Leader Roy Blunt of Missouri said last week that the chances of finding agreement are less than 50 percent, and success will only be possible if both chambers come to the table ready to make deals.

To contact the reporter on this story: To contact the reporters on this story: Craig Torres in Washington at ctorres3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 28, 2006 13:58 EDT