Donald Trump had a relatively poor performance in Wednesday night’s CNN debate. But one of his stronger moments — at least from the point of view of his supporters — came when the topic of immigration arose.

“We’re going to have a country again,” he said in defending his ambitious (and probably unfeasible) plan to build a wall along the entire Mexican border and deport 11 million illegal immigrants. Each time Trump, who is number one in the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings, describes how hordes of foreigners are overrunning and destroying the country, he speaks to what many perceive as a major and underappreciated threat facing America.