So let me get this straight. Reagan had to compromise on some issues to win a war that had to be won. Yet Bush, faced with a weak Senate struggling with only a five seat Republican majority must toe the line on every issue, WOT be damned. Reagan can "sell out the country on immigration", but Bush needs to build a wall and deport every illegal tomorrow "if he wants the conservative base to vote for him". Again, I say...wow.
Did you not forget that the Democrats held a sold majority back then in the congress, almost large enough to bypass veto provisions?