House Speaker John Boehner defended rejecting Rep. Jeff Denham's immigration bill to offer citizenship to immigrants who served in the military.

Boehner said that the national defense bill was not the time for a vote, notes Fox News Latino. Denham didn't listen to House Republican leaders and filed the bill, which "provides an avenue for those who want to perform the ultimate act of patriotism -- serving their country -- to earn legal status," either way.

There has been discussions about letting Denham have a stand-alone vote on his bill, but no decision has been reached so far.

Last year, Senate passed a bill that would strengthen border security, offer a way for about 11.5 to gain citizenship and remake legal worker programs. But it has stalled in the House, and Boehner says it is because GOP's distrust of President Barack Obama.

Denham's proposal was popular, and a good compromise on the immigration issue. Immigrants who came to the United States before Dec. 31, 2011 and were less than 15 would be able to become legal, permanent residents through military service. This could apply to 500,000 immigrants. The bill was co-sponsored by 50 members of the House. There were 26 Democrats and 24 Republicans that were in favor of the bill. Rep. Mo Brooks said that if Denham continue to push the bill that it would cause "all hell" to "break loose."

It seems that in order to not upset its core supporters, Republicans have not made a move. There is, however, a lot of groups that are pushing for an overhaul of the immigration system.

In a statement, Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a Pentagon spokesman, said that the Defense Department "continues to examine the laws and policies that address the eligibility of noncitizens to serve in the military in order to determine if and how our programs could be applied to DACA recipients."