Sen. Marco Rubio, desperately trying to appease the Right on immigration, nevertheless admits he won’t repeal an Obama executive order that infuriates conservative foes of illegal immigration.

Rubio’s rightward shift had been evident during Wednesday’s Republican debate, as he made statements in support of stricter border security, a crackdown on H1-B visa abuse, and merit-based immigration restrictions.

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Related: Rubio Tacks Right on Immigration

But in a little-noticed interview late last week with Jorge Ramos, Univision host and radical immigration advocate, Rubio said he would not “immediately” revoke President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program upon entering office.

Rubio thinks the end to DACA should be gradual. The program “will have to end at some point,” Rubio said, adding he hopes “it will end because of … reform to the immigration laws.” He stressed that DACA “cannot be the permanent policy of the United States.”

This illustrates the difficult position in which Rubio finds himself.

Immigration is Rubio’s biggest weakness as far as the conservative GOP base is concerned. With Rubio trying to move right, Sen. Ted Cruz pounced Thursday during a Fox News interview, reminding the audience of Rubio’s past support for amnesty.

“I led the fight against Obama’s amnesty — against the Gang of Eight Bill, which was championed by Barack Obama, by Chuck Schumer and Marco Rubio,” Cruz said. “And I led the fight standing side by side with Jeff Sessions, and we defeated it in Congress. Amnesty did not pass.”

Rubio cannot be seen to be so tough on immigration that he jeopardizes support from the GOP Establishment.

It was a rare, direct attack by Cruz on one of his GOP opponents and highlights the extent to which immigration is Rubio’s Achilles heel.

In order to have any hope of securing conservative support, Rubio needs to be as strict as possible on immigration, especially considering his previous Gang of Eight amnesty blunder.

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However, Rubio cannot be seen to be so tough on immigration that he jeopardizes support from the GOP Establishment and donor class, which are counting on him to keep the immigration floodgates open.

The result is the sort of tepid statement Rubio gave in his interview with Ramos, in which the presidential hopeful tried to appeal to one side by saying he won’t rescind DACA, and the other by saying at the same time how much he dislikes DACA.

And threading the needle might not please anyone.