It's not really the Senate's fault. Opposition parties almost never vote with government parties in any democratic legislature, so you shouldn't expect them to in the US.
The real problem is the outdated system that is set up to (1) only allow two major parties to exist, so a European-style coalition government isn't possible, and (2) require both major parties to agree in order to pass any legislation.
If we end up in a situation where neither branch can respond quickly and effectively, that may be worse than what we have now.
Disagree. The political deadlock of the legislative branch is by design. Only things that are truly broadly supported should pass through the legislature.
The overreach of the executive branch is a response to complete and utter inaction by the states to reign in the federal government.
That isn't to say there isn't "overreach".
now we are just out of solutions and too divided to get further patches in