It does not go against conservative principles to expect the federal government to fulfill its constitutional responsibility of protecting the nation's borders. The military and border patrol are two aspects of the federal government that are necessary.
Protecting the border certainly can't be compared to a great society social program.
Oh, I quite agree. The problem is that many of the people who will be charged with designing a federal border protection program don't live there and don't care much for the people who do. That's why I'm so much in favor of keeping it as local as possible. Yes, it's absolutely a legitimate function of the federal government. But they're not the experts in the matter, even if they tell you they are.