Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) called two members of Congress Wednesday morning asking them to introduce a bill stopping states from issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

Giuliani sought to capitalize on Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (N.Y.) struggle with a policy issue introduced by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), which has taken center stage in New York and the 2008 presidential contest.

Keying off statements Clinton has made since coming under fire for her answer in last week’s Democratic debate, Giuliani said Clinton “is now calling for different standards in different states.”

“Although I never really thought of Hillary as a federalist before, I think this may be the one area where federalism is not the answer,” Giuliani said.

Clinton’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, but appearing on CNN on Tuesday, the senator said she supports “what governors are trying to do.”

“And governors are on the front lines because of the failures to get comprehensive immigration reform,” Clinton said. “There are already eight states that issue driver’s licenses without any verification of citizenship. That is a decision that the governors and legislatures and the people of those states have made.”

Clinton has come under intense fire from Republicans and her Democratic rivals since she gave what they say was an evasive and equivocating answer to a question on the plan during the Philadelphia debate.

Spitzer’s plan, which surprised other Democratic lawmakers in New York when it was announced in September, has prompted widespread opposition and injected the incendiary issues of immigration policy and terrorism into state and national political races.

Spitzer revised his plan Saturday after input from Homeland Security Department chief Michael Chertoff. The new plan is tiered: Those without legal papers will receive a license that allows them to drive but does not serve as identification for traveling by plane.

Democrats remain wary of repeating Clinton’s mistake by wading into the issue.

Democratic sources have said Spitzer’s office has been contacting members of the New York delegation seeking support for his latest plan both before and after the Democratic debate.

Yet when asked if they are backing Spitzer, several New York Democrats either equivocated or refused to say.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) declined to disclose his view of the Spitzer plan but chastised King for politicizing an issue he said was not partisan in the past, citing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as well as Health and Human Services Secretary and former Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt, both Republicans who embraced similar proposals in their states.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) also said he needed to study the latest plan before he would have an opinion on it.

He said King’s plan was a “phony thing to do” because the New York Republican supported the GOP Real ID immigration bill in 2005, which would create a uniform national identification card as a way to improve homeland security efforts to locate people, the same goal Spitzer had last year. Weiner did not acknowledge, however, that that bill also prevented states from issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) said that he supports the general idea of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, but that he still needed to look over the details of Spitzer’s latest plan before he could endorse it. Crowley said he generally believes illegal immigrants should have driver’s licenses for security reasons, because illegal immigrants have a greater tendency to get insurance if they are licensed and they can be easily identified if involved in an accident.

He criticized King for proposing a bill that would supplant states’ rights on the issues and for radically changing his position on immigration.

“I thought the other side was for states’ rights,” Crowley remarked.  

“He used to have such a great record on immigration rights for the Irish. But after 9/11 and he became chairman of the Homeland Security committee, all that changed.”

Crowley also said he was surprised that Giuliani, as a former mayor of New York City, would support legislation to usurp the rights of a local executive to make local policy.

King on Wednesday told The Hill that although he and Giuliani agree on the issue, he actually instructed his committee staff to start drafting a bill last week, adding that “great minds think alike.”

King said it was Chertoff’s comments, not Clinton’s, that led him to start exploring a legislative fix.

King acknowledged that the issue packs a potential boost for Giuliani in his presidential bid. The former mayor and his GOP rivals have fought, at times bitterly, over immigration issues this year, and Giuliani has repeatedly been accused of running a “Sanctuary City.”

“To be honest, it’s a very good political issue for him,” King said. “It’s one of the occasions where good government and good politics come together.”