CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) - As Senate Republicans came out swinging against the current immigration reform bill at a news conference Thursday, North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole criticized an immigration law that passed while her husband was Senate Majority Leader.

"No more of the same song," she said. "It's time for the Senate to change its tune. It's time to make certain that we rectify these problems of the past and have that opportunity if we were to move forward with securing our borders and enforcing our laws."

Congress passed and President Reagan signed an immigration overhaul law in 1986 when Sen. Bob Dole was majority leader. That law, which then-Sen. Dole supported, included amnesty for illegal immigrants who had entered the country before 1982.

Many Republicans have been opposed the current immigration bill because it includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria.

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich