Sen. Marco Rubio laid out his strategy to defeat ISIS Thursday, outlining a hawkish four-point plan that includes a call for ground troops and a no-fly zone.
The GOP presidential candidate criticized President Barack Obama for “dithering” and “deferring leadership,” in an op-ed for Politico. “When I am president, what I will do to defeat ISIL is very simple: whatever it takes.”
Rubio offered four specific proposals for combating the terrorist organization: Stopping the flow of refugees into the U.S.; removing military budget cuts imposed under sequestration; make the U.S. armed forces mission “total destruction of ISIL” including ground troops; and maintaining his support for a no-fly zone in Syria.
Rubio also used the op-ed to fire shots at some of his rivals for the GOP nomination, writing, “Some of my Republican colleagues are also vying for the presidency, yet they have spent the last several years helping to gut our defense and eliminate key intelligence programs.”
Rubio has been increasingly willing to hit Texas Sen. Ted Cruz over his support for the USA Freedom Act, which restricted the bulk collection of phone metadata by U.S. intelligence agencies, and his unflinching opposition to budget increases.
In addition to his op-ed, Rubio appeared on “The Kelly File” on Fox News Thursday night to discuss the refugee debate and his opposition to admitting more Syrians. “You can’t let people in unless they can pass a background check,” he argued, adding, “What’s so outrageous about that?”
“The number one obligation of the federal government,” Rubio said, “is to keep us safe. This is not about slamming the door on anybody.”
Rubio was also asked by host Megyn Kelly about closing mosques to fight radicalism, as has been suggested by GOP front-runner Donald Trump. Rubio answered that “it’s not about closing down mosques, it’s about closing down any place, whether it’s a café, a diner, an internet site — any place where radicals are being inspired.”
“Whatever facility is being used — it’s not just a mosque — any facility that’s being used, to radicalize and inspire attacks against the United States should be a place that we look at.”