The public at large favors the rule of law. When it is explained in that context people are full well ready to accept it.
If you think otherwise then you indeed think that most of this nation places the church above the law. I am sorry you think so lowly of the people of this nation when it comes to the very fabric that makes this nation function.
If you start arresting Catholic bishops for not turning illegals into the cops, you're going to take a whipping by the public. They won't stand for it.