Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, a leading House advocate of immigration reform, sounded decidedly cautious when asked on ABC Sunday whether Congress can pass a reform bill to send to the president this year. “I really don’t know the answer to that question,” Ryan said. “That is clearly in doubt.”

That certainly appears to be true — after all, a large number of House Republicans oppose some significant parts of the GOP immigration reform principles unveiled at the party’s retreat last week. So there is plenty of reason to take Ryan’s statement as a plainly factual assessment of the situation.