THE BIBLE VS BLOOD AND SOIL:

Last week, as Senator Marco Rubio's office was fielding phone calls from opponents of an immigration law rewrite, an appeal went out to evangelical Christians to counter the onslaught.

"Senator Rubio is working hard on common-sense immigration reform that upholds the biblical commandment to welcome the stranger," a recorded voice said before automatically connecting callers to the Florida Republican's Washington office. They were asked to tell whomever answered that they backed a set of evangelical principles on immigration, including providing a path toward citizenship for the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented residents.

The call-in campaign demonstrates an intensifying push by evangelical Christians, a key part of the Republican Party base, in favor of revamping immigration laws in ways most Republicans have until recently rejected.

While some evangelical leaders have long favored an immigration revision, it's only now -- in the wake of the 2012 elections that spotlighted Republicans' weakness with Hispanic voters -- that they are stepping up their activism.

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