Biden REJECTS claims his border policies led to surge in migrant crossings and addresses being president at 85 in TIME interview

  READ MORE: Biden's record on immigration policies since taking office

President Joe Biden, 81, says he wishes he took earlier action to reverse Donald Trump's border policies.

In a defensive and, at times, combative interview with Time Magazine, the president insisted his age is not a problem going into the 2024 election even though he would be 86 at the end of a second term.

While Biden is expected to issue an executive order this week to shut down the border once crossings reach 4,000 per day, he still claims his previous actions on illegal immigration have not exacerbated the ongoing crisis.

Besides inflation and the economy, immigration often tops the list of biggests issues for Americans ahead of November's presidential election. But Biden faces another uphill battle – his age.

Polls in recent months continue to portray that voters think the current president is too old or mentally and physically unfit for another four years in office. If elected for a second term, Biden would beat his own record set three-and-a-half-years ago by being the oldest president ever elected to office.

President Joe Biden insists he 'can do better any anybody' as president in 2024 amid concerns over his age and dismissed his policies on illegal immigration exacerbated the southern border crisis

'You are 81 years old, and would be 86 by the time you left office,' Washington Bureau Chief Massimo Calabresi and Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs posed in their interview with Biden published online on Tuesday.

'Large majorities of Americans, including in the Democratic Party, tell pollsters they think you are too old to lead. Could you really do this job as an 85-year old man?' they asked.

'I can do it better than anybody you know,' the presumed 2024 Democratic candidate replied before challenging: 'You're looking at me, I can take you too.'

'Did you consider not running again because of your age?'

He replied: 'No, I didn't.'

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Joe Biden's 'crackdown' on illegal migrants ripped as a 2024 campaign 'stunt' as president plans to CLOSE the border if crossings skyrocket

'And what do you say to Americans who are worried about it?' they followed-up.

'Watch me,' Biden said. 'Look, name me a president that's gotten as much done as I've gotten done in my first three and a half years.'

Meanwhile, nearly 8 million illegal immigrants crossed the southern border since Biden took office in January 2021, and some estimates put the number of undocumented migrants living in the U.S. at more than 20 million.

'Another of your first acts as President under the banner of value-based leadership was to lift various punitive Trump-era immigration measures, Mr. President, that you and others said were inhumane. In retrospect, do you think those humanitarian moves helped drive record illegal border crossing?'

Biden shot back with: 'No.'

'Were you wrong to lift any of those measures?' they pressed.

'If I was wrong, it's because I took too long,' the president replied.

But it didn't take Biden long to implement changes to policies that were enacted by former President Trump during his four years in office.

In fact, on Day One of his presidency, Biden announced he was taking at least five actions related to immigration and the southern border – including ending construction of the border wall and reopening immigration of migrants from countries seen as hostile to the U.S.

Biden's interview with Time Magazine was defensive and, at times, combative as he was questioned on his record as president and his age going into November's election

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Since becoming president, Biden also ended Trump's Remain in Mexico policy and Title 42, which was a pandemic-era policy that allowed for more immediate deportation of illegal immigrants during a public health emergency.

Biden told Time he is not examining reinstating Trump's so-called Remain in Mexico program despite reports to the contrary.

House Speaker Mike Johnson claims that Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have implemented or taken more than 60 actions to 'open the border' and that any executive order from Biden is only the result of pressure ahead of November.

Other Republican lawmakers claim it's a 'political stunt.'