GOP senator: The border wall is a 'metaphor' for good border security

President Trump's talk about a big, beautiful, possibly 55-foot tall border wall is just an evocative image to express the new administration's strong commitment to tight border security, a Republican senator suggested Thursday.

"I've always thought the wall was a metaphor for securing the border," said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in an interview with CNN on Thursday morning. "We have an administration that's committed themselves to securing the border, whatever shape and form that takes." Whether anyone has apprised Trump, who has been known to declare the wall "just got 10 feet higher" in response to pushback from the Mexican government, that he was adding a metaphorical 10 feet is less than clear.

"And yes, we do need better barriers, we need better fencing," Johnson added, apparently conceding that the wall might be a little bit literal. "We've had border patrol deputies and chiefs telling us fencing works. We need more of it. But I think we are going to do this in a very thoughtful manner."

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As the conservative website Hot Air notes — with pictures! — border walls and fences pretty much already exist in all the places along the U.S.-Mexico border where the climate and terrain make construction as well as border crossings feasible.