ALBANY -- Senate Republicans promised Wednesday to delay or derail Gov. Eliot Spitzer's new plan to make it easier to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, Republicans in the Assembly's minority said they will file a lawsuit Thursday to stop Spitzer's "illegal plan," which was announced Saturday. Assembly Republican leader James Tedisco of Schenectady said it would "make our state and nation a less secure, less safe place."

While the GOP-led Senate said it will continue trying to block the license program through legislation, and may deny funds in the 2008-09 budget, the Democrat-led Assembly has no plans to oppose the Democratic governor's plan.

Republican senators had just as many objections to the new plan for three levels of licensing as they did to a single-license plan announced in September, but their latest arguments focused on national security.

"I don't like options when it comes to security of the state and of this nation," said Sen. Martin Golden, a Brooklyn Republican. "We're not talking about immigrants. Immigrants built this nation and continue to build this nation. We are talking about illegal aliens ... nobody is going to take the terrorist aspect of this lightly."

"Senator, I don't want you to put words in my mouth," said state motor vehicles Commissioner David Swarts after three hours of questioning. "I am as concerned about the security of this nation as you are ... we are going to make it better."

The issue was also part of Tuesday night's presidential debate. Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said giving licenses to illegal immigrants "makes a lot of sense," but she made it clear she wasn't endorsing the idea. Instead, she said immigration is a federal problem Washington has failed to fix.

State Republican Chairman Joseph Mondello pounced on that Wednesday: "Is Hillary Clinton's response indicative of an inability to make clear decisions on vital issues? And, is she is capable of decisively functioning, during an era of great international turmoil, at the President's desk where the buck stops?"

"I think what you saw across the board was an agreement that the issue we're facing, we're facing because of a failed federal policy," Spitzer said in response to Clinton's comment. "The consequence of that is that I as a governor, I have a very real issue I have to confront."

For more, read Thursday's Citizen