House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Friday that a border security bill will be one of the first actions of the new Congress.

McCaul said the legislation would be part of a “constructive” response to President Obama’s actions on immigration that would avoid a government shutdown.

“I think one of the first bills you’ll see out of the box in the new Congress will be my border security bill,” McCaul said on Fox News. “Because until we get the security piece done, you really can’t talk intelligently about immigration reform as long as waves of illegals are coming in the country.”Republicans have been debating different responses to President Obama’s announcement Thursday that he will act to shield five million immigrants in the country illegally from deportation.

“We want to be constructive,” McCaul said. “We want to keep the government open but we want to shut down this…