With a bipartisan group of senators expected to unveil immigration-reform legislation in the next few days, a brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that nearly two-thirds of Americans – including eight-in-10 Latinos – support giving undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.

A slight majority of Republican respondents oppose this path, possibly foreshadowing the resistance which any comprehensive immigration reform bill might receive, especially in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

But when Republicans hear that a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants includes paying fines and back taxes, almost three-quarters of them support the idea.

What’s more, a majority of the public – for the first time in the poll – agrees with the statement that immigration strengthens the nation, reflecting a shift in attitude on this issue. 

Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted this survey with the Democratic firm Hart Research Associates, says that this change in sentiment on immigration “speaks to something potent,” particularly given the economic struggles of the past five years.

"These more positive attitudes provide more leeway for lawmakers to build support for change on this issue," McInturff adds.

View the poll results here

On other matters, the poll shows a majority of the public favors stricter gun laws, President Barack Obama’s approval rating falling below 50 percent for the first time since Oct. 2012, and fewer than two-in-10 Americans saying the automatic budget cuts known as “the sequester” have significantly affected them.

Immigration – a strength or weakness?
A majority (54 percent) agrees with the statement that immigration adds to the nation’s character and strengthens it by bringing diversity and talent to the country.

Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

Tens of thousands of immigration reform supporters march in the "Rally for Citizenship" on the West Lawn of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 10, 2013.

In a 2010 NBC/WSJ survey, fewer than half of respondents agreed with that statement, and in 2005, a plurality said that immigration weakened the nation.

Additionally, the Democratic Party holds a 7-point advantage over the Republican Party on the question of which party does a better job in dealing with immigration.

Among an oversample of Latino respondents, the Democratic edge increases to 26 points.

Regarding the current legislative debate over immigration, 64 percent of respondents say they favor allowing undocumented immigrants to have the opportunity to become legal American citizens.

That includes 82 percent of Latinos, 80 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of political independents supporting a path to citizenship.

But 51 percent of Republicans oppose it, versus 47 percent who back it.

Yet when told that the pathway to citizenship would require paying fines and back taxes, as well as passing a security-background check, support grows – with 76 percent of total respondents, and 73 percent of Republicans backing the path.

That pathway to citizenship is the heart of a comprehensive immigration reform proposal that the so-called “Gang of Eight” senators – including Democrats Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin and Republicans John McCain and Marco Rubio – are drafting and plan to introduce in the next few days.

The proposal also calls for strengthening the U.S.-Mexico border, tying that security to establishing the path to citizenship and expanding legal immigration.

A majority of all respondents (51 percent) believe undocumented immigrants should be eligible for citizenship five years after application. Just 12 percent say the eligibility should occur after 10 years, and only 18 percent believe citizenship should be immediate.

On border security, nearly two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) think the U.S.-Mexico border is “mostly” or “totally” not secure, compared with a smaller percentage of Latino respondents (49 percent) who believe that.

55 percent favor stricter gun laws
In addition to immigration, Congress is grappling with the issue of gun control, with the Senate expected to vote on Thursday whether to begin debate on a Democratic-backed measure requiring background checks for most gun sales.

According to the poll, 55 percent favor stricter laws covering the sale of firearms.

That’s down 6 points from the Feb. 2013 NBC/WSJ poll – conducted after Obama’s State of the Union address that contained a call to action on gun control – but it’s essentially unchanged from the Jan. 2013 poll.

Yet there’s a wide political divide to these numbers: 82 percent of Democrats favor stricter gun laws, while just 27 percent of Republicans do.

Obama’s approval rating drops to 47 percent
Despite majorities backing the broad outlines of his legislative priorities on immigration and guns, President Obama confronts a pessimistic public and declining poll numbers.

Only 31 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction – a decline of 10 points since Dec. 2012.

His overall job-approval rating stands at 47 percent, which is down 3 points since February and which represents the first time he’s been below 50 percent since just before the 2012 election.

In addition, 47 percent approve of the president’s economic handling (up three points from February), and 46 percent approve of his handling of foreign policy (down six from Dec. 2012).

Democratic pollster Fred Yang of Hart Research says that the public’s sour attitude, particularly on the economy, has “dragged down” Obama’s numbers.

Sequester’s limited impact (so far)
Lastly, the NBC/WSJ poll finds that only a combined 16 percent of Americans say the automatic across-the-board budget cuts that went into effect earlier in the year have impacted them either “a great deal” or “quite a bit.”

By comparison, a whopping 75 percent say the cuts to military and non-military programs have affected them “just some” or “not much.”

But a plurality of respondents – 47 percent – believe the cuts will mostly harm the economy, versus 30 percent who say they won’t have an impact.

The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted of 1,000 adults (including 300 cell phone-only respondents) from April 5-8, and it has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points.

A suspicious blast that leveled a home brought the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and explosive-detecting dogs to rural Pennsylvania on Tuesday, after the explosion killed a man who was due in court that day and injured two other people.

The explosion in Clearfield Township happened Tuesday just before 9 a.m., when Bradley Kollar, 40, was supposed to be sentenced in the county court for pleading guilty to drug charges. Instead, investigators arrived at the scene to find Kollar dead, and a homeowner and his teenage son injured, said Pennsylvania State Trooper John Matchik. 

"Upon arrival, [state police] found a two-story house completely leveled, with the homeowner trapped inside the rubble," Matchik said. "The remnants of a vehicle were recognized in front of the house. From a preliminary sense, the damage appeared to originate from that vehicle."

The ATF is still investigating what types of materials were involved in the device that was detonated from Kollar's truck, which investigators believe Kollar drove up to the home before detonating the explosive device Tuesday morning. The FBI, explosives experts and local fire departments are also assisting in the investigation. 

Kollar, of Hastings, Pa., was a "known acquaintance" of William Shaner, 44, the homeowner, Matchik said. Investigators believe Kollar called Shaner before driving to his house with explosives, but it's not clear what may have transpired in their conversation.

"It may have been a threat," Matchik said. "The explosion appears to be an intentional act."

Shaner and his teenage son, whose identity was not made public, were hospitalized after the explosion, which was felt by residents in the remote area for several miles around. Shaner's son has been released; Shaner is still in intensive care but is expected to survive.

The area remained closed off Wednesday afternoon. Residents will likely be able to come back in the evening. 

"The only thing I can state about the explosion itself was it was quite significant," Matchik said. "The true nature of that explosive device is yet to be determined, and that's going to take a significant analysis by the lab from the ATF to find out exactly what materials we're looking at or how that device may have been configured and how it was actually detonated."

The Cambria County coroner, Dennis Kwiatkowski, confirmed Kollar's death was ruled a suicide.

"It almost looked as if the house was a gas explosion at first," Kwiatkowski said of the scene Tuesday. "Then we found out there were other circumstances."

Clearfield Township, which is in Cambria County, is about 80 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker said Friday that “the American people should be disgusted” the nation’s leaders haven’t been able to avert the fiscal cliff.

Well, mission accomplished.

John Makely / NBC News

Abigail Holt, 17, (right), of Hartford, Conn., says Washington's inability to avert the fiscal cliff is "annoying."

Across the country, people are shaking their heads about negotiations that go nowhere and fingers that point everywhere while the nation hurtles toward the precipice of a new economic crisis.

“They should make a plan, make up their minds and do something!” Abigail Holt of Hartford, Conn., told NBC News.

She’s 17 years old and admits she’s just learning about the federal government and the fiscal cliff. But she knows this much: “It’s annoying.”

And that's being polite.

Writing in the Daily Beast, Howard Kurtz called the nation's capital "the country’s biggest day-care center." The famous sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer hit below the belt, noting on Twitter that "Members of Congress who can't compromise probably aren't good lovers."

Californian Pat Marshall said the politicians "appear to be very self-centered on making sure that they’re taken care of and the American public comes second."

After an hourlong meeting Friday with congressional leaders that he described as "constructive," President Obama acknowledged that people outside Washington were bewildered by D.C. "dysfunction" and that time -- and patience -- were running out.

Lawmakers have 'lost touch'
Indeed, with higher taxes and deep spending cuts looming without a deal, Americans’ faith in Washington is dissipating by the day.

A Dec. 9 Gallup poll found that 59 percent thought it was likely the White House and Congress could hammer out a deal to avoid a slide down the cliff; by this week, that had sunk to 50 percent.

Skeptics were gaining ground, meanwhile: 48 percent think an agreement before the year-end deadline is unlikely, up 10 points from two weeks earlier.

John Makely / NBC News

Rich Dodds, 49, of Houston, Texas, says the elected officials in Washington have "lost touch" with Americans who will be affected by the fiscal cliff.

“It doesn’t feel like they’re doing much,” said Rich Dodds, 49, an energy product manager from Houston, Texas. “I think they’ve lost touch with who the American people are. It’s a pretty elite group in Washington.”

The fact that both houses of Congress went into recess -- the Senate took a nearly week-long break, and the House is still on vacation until Sunday -- bothered some.

“This is one of the most important issues and they are not even working,” said Bill Prosser, 49, a telecommunications salesman from Clifton, Va. “I’m very disappointed in them.”

Nicole Hayward, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was so angered by the congressional recess that she posted a petition on Change.org demanding lawmakers get back to business.

“I turn on the news every day while I’m getting ready for work and I saw coverage about how Congress was going to break for the holidays and we might not have a resolution,” the marketing director said. “I thought, who cares about their holiday vacation? It really got me going.”

Hayward got only 101 signatures on her petition. She attributed the lack of interest to cynicism.

“The reason why the average American doesn’t pay attention to this issue and the details is they think Congress will come together and pass something that just kicks the can down the road and things won’t change in [their] life,” she said.

John Makely / NBC News

Bill Prosser, 49, of Clifton, Va., says members of Congress should be locked in a room until they can make a deal.

Bipartisan blame
Inside the Beltway, Democrats are condemning Republicans and vice versa for the stalemate. But the nation’s voters are more bipartisan in their blame, with neither Republicans nor Democrats obtaining majority support.

“Essentially, right now, 25 percent of the public approves of the job the GOP congressional leaders are doing and 40 percent approves of the job the Democratic leaders are doing,” said Jocelyn Kiley, a senior researcher for the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Prosser thinks there’s a time-tested way to bring the two sides together before Jan. 1 -- something akin to the old papal conclaves in which cardinals were locked in a room until they chose a new pontiff.

“Just say you’re not going to leave until you have a deal,” Prosser said.  “Get in a room -- and get it done!”

Updated 7:48pm ET In the storm-ravaged states of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, officials have moved some Election Day voting locations, although many remain unchanged.

As of noon Monday, Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill said that utility companies in her state have reported that electricity has been restored to all but two of 773 voting precincts in the state.

Her Web site posted the two voting place changes:

· Bridgeport’s Longfellow School polling place has been relocated to Aquaculture School, 60 St. Stephens Road, Bridgeport.

· New London’s Ocean Beach polling place has been relocated to Harbor School, 432 Montauk, Ave, New London.

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In New Jersey, storm-displaced voters who are temporarily staying in a part of the state where they are not registered, are permitted to go to any polling place in New Jersey on Election Day and vote by using a provisional ballot. The ballot will be forwarded to the county of the voter’s residence.

Tim Aubry / Reuters

Utility trucks and first responders navigate flood waters on the main stretch of road in Peahala Park, N.J., in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, in this photograph taken on October 30, 2012 and released on Oct. 31.

Displaced New Jersey voters also have until 5 p.m. ET on Election Day to fax or e-mail a request for a mail ballot to their county clerk.

More information is available at the New Jersey Division of Elections website, on voting by fax or e-mail.  The voter must transmit the ballot to the county board of elections no later than 8 p.m. ET on Election Day.

Some counties in New Jersey have posted changes in voting locations or have alerted voters about the status of voting locations in their area.

Here are a few:

· Union County: County officials have posted an announcement that “almost all polling places are expected to be open on Election Day, Tuesday November 6. An updated list will be available later today.”

·   Ocean County: The county has posted a list of changes in voting locations here.

·  Atlantic County: The elections board has posted a list of changes in voting locations here.

·  Monmouth County: The county has posted a list of locations here.

The county also says: “Provisions have been made for residents in two of the most severely storm-ravaged boroughs to vote in neighboring communities. Sea Bright residents will vote at the Fair Haven Fire House on 645 River Road in Fair Haven. Loch Arbour residents will be voting at the Allenhurst Fire House on 311 Hume Street in Allenhurst. All other residents will vote in their own community.”

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In New York, as of Monday morning, some counties were still in the process of finding new voting locations but had not yet posted them on their Web sites.

Suburban Nassau County, which was hit especially hard by last week’s storm surge and flooding, has posted a list of the voting locations that have been moved or consolidated, here.

In addition, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order on Monday that will allow displaced voters from one of the federally-declared disaster counties, such as Nassau, who may temporarily be in a county other than where they live to vote by affidavit ballot.

The affidavit ballot will be sent to the board of elections where the voter is registered. According to Cuomo’s press office, these votes by affidavit ballot will count for the office of president and United States senator “and for any other candidate and ballot initiative that appears on the official ballot where the voter is registered.”

Listed below are links to the polling place search tools that each state offers, but be aware that in some cases changes in polling locations might not be reflected in the voter lookup tool databases.

· Search tool for New Jersey voters here.

· Search tool for New York state voters here.

· Search tool for New York City voters here.

· Search tool for Connecticut voters here.

For voters who want to use early voting or an absentee ballot, here’s some information:

· In New York, a voter needs a specific reason to vote by absentee ballot, such as being out of the state on Election Day, having a disability, or being in prison due to having been convicted of a non-felony offense. The State Board of Elections has announced that the deadline for applying in person for an absentee ballot is Monday. Absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than Monday, Nov. 5. Those mailed ballots have until Nov. 19 to arrive at the local Board of Elections.

· In New Jersey, any voter can vote by mail. A voter may apply in person to the County Clerk until 3:00 p.m. ET Monday. Vote by mail ballot must be received by the County Board of Elections no later than 8 p.m. ET on Election Day.

· In Connecticut, voting by absentee ballot is limited  to the sick and disabled, those in active service in the armed forces, and those absent from their town for all of Election Day. The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Monday and the deadline for returning the absentee ballot is 8 p.m. ET on Election Day.

Authorities are investigating the cause of an explosion that leveled a house on Long Island, N.Y., killing an 18-month-old baby and injuring another 17 people, officials said.

Rah-quan Palmer died in the blast that razed his family's two-story home on Prospect Drive in Brentwood just before noon Tuesday. Palmer's mother, Christina Morgan, 23, and his father, Rashamel Palmer, 28, remain hospitalized along with their tenants Calvin Harris, 23, and 63-year-old Irving Justiniano.

A State Farm Insurance agent, 46-year-old Patricia Salegna-Maqueda, who had been assessing a recent claim submitted for flooding, and a plumber, 48-year-old Michael Ray, also were injured.

Eleven people outside the house also were injured, including seven police officers, two firefighters and a mother and son who lived next door. Their injuries were minor and all were treated at local hospitals and released. 

For more, visit NBCNewYork.com

Firefighters sifted through the rubble of the home Tuesday afternoon into the evening, seeking answers to what may have prompted the destruction.

Neighbors described a chaotic scene.

"One of them came out, and his clothes were all ripped, his face was all bloody," said Anthony Acevedo. "The mother of the baby that came out, she was bloody and crying, and she kept screaming, 'My baby's in there, my baby's in there.'"

Another neighbor, who said he often waved to the family, saw rescuers pull the baby from the rubble, but he wasn't moving. 

"That's the sad part, and that image just kills me," said Carlos Bescosne. "I saw the fireman run with the baby." 

Another woman, Dawn Paris, said the explosion shook her house and she lives a mile away.

Frank Catalano, a worker with AMS Restoration and Environmental Services said that a pipe had burst in the house last week, causing a flood.

"There were issues in the house," Catalano said. "The condition wasn't the greatest."

The house had been illegally converted into a rooming house with at least eight rooms, which were being rented for $300 a month, said Inez Birbiglia, a spokeswoman for the Town of Islip. The owner of the house was issued 10 summonses for code violations in September 2011 and was given until this October to bring the house into compliance.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation. Authorities say two 200-pound propane tanks were discovered in the debris and are investigating if the propane may have contributed to the explosion.

National Grid spokeswoman Wendy Ladd says it appears natural gas was not used in that house or on the entire block. 

Officials have condemned the houses on both sides of the explosion, which were badly damaged. Red Cross is assisting 19 people find temporary shelter until residents are allowed into homes that were intact but may have been compromised. 

Last April, another home in Brentwood exploded. The home was vacant at the time and no one was injured, though 21 people from neighboring homes were taken to the hospital for evaluation.

A gas leak was believed to have caused that explosion.

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