NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's leading U.S. Senate candidates are decrying the separation of immigrant families at the border, with Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn blaming liberals.

Blackburn said her "heart breaks for the families" but liberals wouldn't pay to enforce immigration laws or build suitable facilities for asylum seekers. She says rulings by liberal judges mean children can't be kept with their families when it comes to border security enforcement. She's calling for securing U.S. borders.

Court rulings establish the right of migrant children, not parents, to be released from custody, but they don't require parent detention.

Democratic ex-Gov. Phil Bredesen is urging an immediate fix, calling it a national issue that transcends the Trump administration.

Tennessee's Republican senators, Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, say it's a new administration policy and should be ended immediately while Congress negotiates a larger immigration solution.