WASHINGTON - A day of maneuvering and speechifying in and outside Congress has done little to change the reality. Barring unlikely success of an eleventh-hour gambit by the House, the international accord aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions will move ahead.

Congressional Republicans turned on each other Wednesday as they divided over how to try to stop the deal, pushing off an expected debate in the House. The Senate did open its debate.

But even if Congress succeeds in passing a disapproval resolution by next week's deadline, President Barack Obama would veto such a resolution and minority Democrats command enough votes to sustain him.

From the 2016 presidential campaign, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped forward to praise the accord, saying, "Diplomacy is not the pursuit of perfection. It is the balancing of risk."

Either the deal moves forward, she said, or "we turn down a more dangerous path leading to a far less certain and riskier future."

The message was far different at a Capitol rally headlined by GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

They denounced the Iran accord, which Republicans contend will not stop the Iranians from developing a nuclear bomb.

Trump told the crowd: "Never ever, ever in my life have I seen a deal so incompetently negotiated as our deal with Iran."

He went on to say: "We are led by very, very stupid people."