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Elections make a difference not just in who is elected, but how they are elected. The substantial impact of the Latino vote in favor of President Obama appears to have had a major impact on one of the nation's most intractable issues: immigration reform.

A bipartisan, eight-senator agreement on a framework for immigration reform is not legislation. And crafting some of the details into passable bills will be challenging. Yet the adjective "bipartisan" to describe the agreement itself is substantial progress.

Also significant is that the group comprises prominent Senate leaders of both parties, from high-immigration states: Republicans Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona, Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Bennett of Colorado and Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

The proposal is fundamentally sensible. It includes a reliable path to citizenship for about 11 million illegal immigrants, predicated upon improvements in border security.

Defining that path and the exact nature of enhanced security are the details that likely will produce a fight in Congress. And President Obama is scheduled to outline his plan today - aspects of which overlap the framework announced by the senators.

Reform won't be easy, but there no longer is doubt about the major components that are needed to meet each side's concerns. That is substantial, if overdue, progress on a huge issue.