WASHINGTON - Democrats are losing some skirmishes over the Department of Homeland Security, but many feel they are winning a political war that will haunt Republicans in 2016 and beyond.

Democrats lacked the votes Friday to force Republicans to fund the department for a year with no strings. Still, even some Republicans say party leaders are on a perilous path with a very public ideological struggle only highlighting the GOP's inability to pass contested legislation and possibly worsening its weak relationship with Hispanic voters.

Worst of all, numerous lawmakers said, Republican leaders have offered no plausible scenario for a successful ending, so they simply are delaying an almost certain and embarrassing defeat.

Conservatives defend their doggedness. They say they courageously are keeping promises to oppose President Barack Obama's liberalization of deportation policies, which they consider unconstitutional. Several said their constituents support their stand, while others said the issue transcends politics.

As a deadline fast approached Friday night, the House agreed to extend the department's funding for a week. But some in both parties said the Republicans were losing political ground.

"It's bad policy and bad politics," said Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who once oversaw his party's House campaigns. The short-term fix, he said, "doesn't help the country, and it just shows that they're incapable of governing" despite holding House and Senate majorities.

Weeks ago, Republicans embarked on a strategy that targeted Obama's executive order protecting millions of immigrants from deportation. They voted to cut off the department's money flow after Feb. 27 unless the order was rescinded.

But they never figured how to overcome Democratic delaying tactics in the Senate that, as many predicted, blocked the GOP plan. Stymied, Senate Republican leaders agreed to fund the department for the rest of the budget year, through September, and to deal separately with immigration.

House Republicans rejected that approach. Shortly before Friday's midnight deadline, the House extended funding for a week without resolving the larger dispute.

"We all know how this is going to turn out," said an exasperated Republican, Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho. "Politically, it's devastating."

Democrats turned up the heat, saying short-term extensions will damage morale at the agency.

"It's a staggering failure of leadership that will prolong this manufactured crisis of theirs and endanger the security of the American people," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California.