Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday the U.S. has an “immigration crisis” but suggested it is dangerous to label it as anything else, including the more than 100 migrants who last week knocked over Texas National Guard troops after breaking through razor wire.

“I don’t think it’s an invasion. It’s an immigration crisis. It’s a national security issue,” the Virginia Democrat said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I think you got to be careful throwing around words like ‘invasion.’ It was that kind of wording that led the deranged guy to go shoot up the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh killing folks a couple years ago. I think that kind of rhetoric is irresponsible.”

In a chaotic scene emblematic of the surge of illegal immigration at the southern border, Texas National Guard troops were seen in video being overpowered by migrants, who trampled razor wire and pushed past the troops.

Mr. Kaine blamed the border crisis on Senate Republicans for turning against bipartisan border security provisions that one of their members negotiated with Democrats earlier this year. But he urged President Biden to also take executive action, particularly to stem the flow of fentanyl.

“After we basically had a deal, Donald Trump said ‘Don’t vote for this deal, we would rather complain about this for the next nine months than fix the problem,’” Mr. Kaine said.

• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.