Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said it will be “extremely difficult” for Republicans to reclaim the White House if the political party fails on immigration reform.

McCain has championed for immigration reform, such as becoming an original co-sponsor of the 2013 bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform legislation known as the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act" (S. 744). McCain supported the bill and so did current Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

During an interview with CQ Roll Call, McCain said it will be "extremely difficult" for the GOP to win the White House if there continued gridlock on immigration.

"I wouldn't predict, but I think that when you have a majority of a Hispanic population right now identifying themselves as in favor of some kind of path to citizenship and it's important to them, I think it makes it more difficult," McCain said.

During the push to pass S. 744, McCain was part of the "gang of eight," which consisted of bipartisan Senate lawmakers including fellow Republican Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. He echoed McCain's call for immigration reform, but noted a Republican presidential candidate doesn't need immigration reform to guarantee the White House victory.

"I think that any Republican running for president has to have a realistic approach. That's not to say that immigration reform has to be accomplished in this Congress -- I wish it would be, I'm still pushing for it. But whoever's running for president as a Republican has to have a rational position," Flake told CQ Roll Call.

S. 744 would have provided called several hundred miles of fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, an employment verification system for all employed and potentially-undocumented, immigrants, train nearly 38,405 full-time active duty U.S. Border Patrol agents and it would have allowed the U.S. attorney general to increase the number of immigration court judges and reform the visa process. The bill also had a "pathway to citizenship" provision for eligible immigrants already residing in the U.S.

The Senate passed S. 744 on June 27, 2013, but the bill was never picked up for debate in the House of Representatives.

The odds to introduce comprehensive immigration reform dropped further as Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., the newly-elected Speaker of the House, confirmed the issue will not be debated during the remainder of Barack Obama's presidency due to the immigration executive actions of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action of Parental Accountability (DAPA) programs.

"Because this president tried to write the law himself; this president went beyond his separation of powers to try and write the law. Presidents don't write laws; Congress writes laws. This president tried to go around Congress to unilaterally write immigration law, so specifically on this issue, you cannot trust this president on this issue so why would we want to pass legislation on a very divisive issue with a president we can't trust on this issue," Ryan told CNN's "State of the Union".

Obama first introduced DACA in June 2012, which gives eligible undocumented immigrant youths the opportunity to stay in the U.S. for two renewable years and avoid deportation if they meet the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's requirements. DAPA was announced in November 2014, which would give eligible undocumented immigrant parents, who have U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident children, with three-year renewable stays. During the November 2014 announcement, Obama also introduced an expansion of DACA, increasing the permit from two to three years.

While the 2012 DACA guidelines are in effect, the 2014 executive actions have not been implemented pending legal action.

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