I used the MySQL command "PASSWORD" to encrypt a clear text password then INSERTed it INTO a database all within the same SQL statement.

Is there a way I can call the MySQL function PASSWORD (or any MySQL function) directly from PHP in a manner like this:

<?php
$clear_text_password = 'ThePassword';
$encrypted_password = mysql_call(PASSWORD($clear_text_password));
?>

Basically I want to retrieve the encrypted password from the database and perform a test like:
if(mysql_call(PASSWORD($clear_text_password)) == $encrypted_password_from_DB){...}

Note: I didn't use the vB Code "php" because the bold and italics was lost.