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Finally, after years of inaction, political dodgeball and head-butting, it looks as if the Senate has drafted a potential winner on comprehensive immigration reform.

It's overdue. It's about time that this nation is on its way to dealing realistically with the complex problem of illegal immigration in a manner that attends to its vexing economic, national security, tax and social aspects.

The Senate should act quickly and urge the House to do likewise.

The Senate bill would: toughen border security with advanced radars and cameras and enforcement; use new technology to implement an employment verification system; and recognize the realities of millions of existing undocumented immigrants well-entrenched in the country's economic system by providing a path to citizenship.

It may not be the perfect solution from every vantage point, but the fact that 18 months before the national elections, leading Senate Republicans and Democrats are on the same page of this politically loaded issue is extremely encouraging.

The opportunity is "rare," as Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy said this week, and it should be seized.

The White House also has signaled its support for the deal, with President Bush striking a humane note in saying, "It'll treat people with respect."

This means all that's missing from having a sound, workable immigration reform program in place this year is getting an entrenched House to go along.

New Mexico's border-state congressional delegation, most notably Republican Reps. Heather Wilson of Albuquerque and Steve Pearce of Hobbs, should help make that happen. They should join with Democratic Rep. Tom Udall, of Santa Fe, and urge the House to find a way to reach a consensus that embraces the Senate bill.

Vocal support for the compromise from New Mexico's two senators, Republican Pete Domenici of Albuquerque and Democrat Jeff Bingaman of Silver City could bear fruit as well, because both have earned bipartisan respect in the Senate and in Washington, D.C.

Compromise is the essence of governing in a democracy, and the Democratic leadership in the Senate deserves credit for finding a way to reach across the aisle and make this happen, just five months after taking back control of Congress.

Likewise, pressure should be on the Republican leadership, which has been largely missing in action on this issue for the past six years, when its party dominated the Senate, House and White House.

Prominent Republican senators, such as Arizona's John McCain and John Kyl and Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, deserve praise for side-stepping their own partisan party pressures and standing instead as statesmen whose first priority is the country.

The Senate bill offers a chance for the nation and both parties to come together to resolve a major issue at the top of the country's agenda with a minimum of discord. It's a fine thing to see and could be a model for addressing a range of controversial, partisan issues, from Social Security reform to a national health care plan.

Before we are Republicans or Democrats, we are Americans. And immigration reform is all about adopting and implementing immigration rules that serve the country's best interests and those of the current and next wave of new Americans.