WASHINGTON --U.S. House leaders have postponed a vote on a compromise bill on immigration until next week as they try to shore up votes.

• U.S. House expected to vote on 2 bills Thursday
• Conservative immigration bill rejected 193 to 231
• Compromise bill postponed

House lawmakers on Capitol Hill were expected to vote on two immigration bills Thursday, but the fate of the legislation was questionable at best.

One of the bills -- sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. -- was favored by conservatives. That bill failed on the House floor Thursday, 193 to 231.

All of the Democrats and 41 Republicans voted no.

The other has been labeled the "compromise" measure, designed to appeal to moderate Republicans. A debate was supposed to happened Thursday evening, followed by a vote Friday. But lawmakers postponed the debate and vote, possibly until next week.

Lawmakers will consider changes in hopes of getting the measure across the finish line.

With House Republicans splintered and Democrats largely left out of the immigration negotiations, the push to get the number of votes needed to pass either piece of legislation has been described as an "uphill" fight.

What do the bills do?

As drafted, both bills address the future of the Dreamers, but in different ways. So-called Dreamers came to the country illegally as children, and qualified under the Obama-era program called "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" (DACA).

After the Trump administration announced plans to phase out DACA, the fate of the Dreamers has been in limbo. 

The conservative bill offers temporary legal status protections for Dreamers, while "compromise" bill offers a pathway to citizenship for some DACA recipients.

The bills also include cutbacks to legal immigration while investing in border security, including providing financing for the president's border wall.

How did we get here?

Several weeks ago, a group of moderate Republicans launched what is called a "dispatch petition." Essentially, it allows lawmakers to sidestep House leadership and force a vote on the House floor.

In this case, the moderate Republicans had grown frustrated with a lack of votes on immigration legislation. Some came from at-risk districts, and believe getting to vote on immigration issues and provide a fix to DACA could help come Election Day this fall.

Under the discharge petition as drafted, if 218 lawmakers signed on, it would force a vote on four bills on the House floor, including the Goodlatte bills and a measure put forward by House leadership. The one that got the most votes would be adopted. If that legislation then actually passed the House, it would be sent to the Senate.

The discharge petition came two votes short, gaining the support of all Democrats and several Republicans.

Hoping to avoid losing control of the floor to the discharge petition, House leadership offered to bring up two bills for a vote: the conservative and "compromise" measure. That was enough to put off the discharge petition -- at least for the time being.

One of the leaders of the discharge effort - Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif. - has not ruled out bringing back up the discharge petition again if neither of the bills get off the House floor.

How likely is it that the compromise bill will pass?

The odds are not good.

House Republicans are splintered over what approach to take. 

Then, late last week, President Donald Trump made a comment that caused confusion over whether he supported the "compromise" immigration legislation. One of Speaker Paul Ryan's arguments against the discharge petition was that it was pointless to pass any legislation that the President ultimately would not sign.

Earlier this week, the President met behind closed doors with House Republicans, at which point he reportedly threw his support behind both bills.

"He just said 'I’m for the bills' with an 's,'" said Rep. Walter Jones, R-NC, who attended the meeting. "There was no discussion of any of the details of either bill from the president. I'm not sure he knows the details."

Meanwhile, Democrats have described the bills as non-starters. They've been left out of negotiations.

"We should have been at the table, you know, from the outset," said Rep. Alma Adams, D-NC. "For [the president] to expect us to come and vote for something we had literally no input in, that’s not right."

There are other immigration bills, too

Aside from the two major pieces of immigration legislation, there are also a handful of bills being offered in both the House and the Senate focused on stopping the separation of kids from their families at the border. Some tie in other provisions, like changes to asylum policies.

While Trump's executive order aims to stop that separation policy, many lawmakers say they still intend to go ahead with their legislation. In a tweet, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, wrote, "Congress still needs to take action to make our laws clear and consistent so children are not separated from their families in the future."

When those bills will be considered remains unclear.