Like Cruz, Sen. Marco Rubio weighed in with one of the strongest responses, in a joint statement with Idaho's Sen. Jim Risch, calling the release of the report "reckless and irresponsible" and demanding a more current detention and interrogation policy.
Companies like Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Yelp--through their Washington trade group, the Internet Association--are public backers of net neutrality. They together have praised Obama for endorsing an approach that might subject the Internet to utility-like regulation. All three Republicans, however, rejected the president's suggestion. Rubio hammered it as "government regulation of the Internet" that "threatens to restrict Internet growth and increase costs on Internet users." And Cruz lambasted net neutrality as "ObamaCare for the Internet" in a tweet that went viral--and drew plenty of criticism.
(VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: The actions I'm taking are not only lawful, they're the kinds of actions taking by every single Republican president and every single Democratic president for the past half century.
Q: Senator, Presidents Reagan and Bush 41 took executive action to grant legal status to about a million and a half people who are in this country illegally. What's the difference?
CRUZ: The difference between Reagan and Bush is both of them were working with Congress and implementing congressional statutes. Congress can change the immigration law and the president can put congressional will into effect. The difference here is this is not a president who wants to work with Congress. Rather, this is a president who is openly defying Congress. [This] stops having a constitutional system of checks & balances, and we move just to unilateral executive authority. It's the power of a monarch
CRUZ: We've got to demonstrate that the campaign words Republicans used on the trail were more than just talk, that we're willing to honor our commitment.
Q: But you're willing to shut down departments and you're willing to take the backlash? It didn't work very well with ObamaCare.
CRUZ: At the time, you and a lot of folks in the press said what a disaster it was to stand up and fight on ObamaCare. That it was going to cost Republicans the majority. It was going to cost seats. Let me point out, we just had an historic election where we won. We've got the biggest majority in the House since the 1920s. And the number one issue that candidates campaigned on was ObamaCare. Not only did the disaster that a lot of folks predicted not happen, it was the biggest victory we've had in a long time.
CRUZ: All across this country, Republicans campaigned, saying: if you elect a Republican Senate, we will stop President Obama's illegal amnesty. We need to honor what we said. We should use the constitutional checks and balances that we have to rein in the abuse of power of the executive. Step #1 is if the president implements this lawless amnesty, that the Senate will not confirm any executive or judicial nominees.
CRUZ: We should use the constitutional checks and balances that we have to rein in the abuse of power of the executive. Step #1 that I have called for is the incoming majority leader should announce if the president implements this lawless amnesty, that the Senate will not confirm any executive or judicial nominees, other than vital national security positions, for the next two years, unless and until the president ends this lawless amnesty. That is an explicit authority given to the Senate.
Q: Are you saying the Senate should refuse to confirm the president's new nominee for attorney general?
CRUZ: We have to rein in the executive. In the Federalist Papers, our Framers talked about a president who would behave like a monarch. And step #2, we've got is the power of the purse, and we should fund one at a time the critical priorities of the federal government, but also use the power of the purse to attach riders.
CRUZ: Well, look, Fidel Castro and Raul Castro, they never miss a chance to push propaganda. You know, what I can tell is, the Castro brothers have put in place a brutal regime that oppresses their citizens, that murders their citizens, that tortures and imprisons their citizens. And the Castros are never shy to jump up and engage in some propaganda to criticize the United States.
CRUZ: There were, no doubt, mistakes that were made up and down the line. But the biggest mistake that continues to be made is now, we continue to allow open commercial air flights from countries that have been stricken by Ebola. We have got upwards of 150 people a day coming from countries with live, active Ebola outbreaks. For over two weeks, I have been calling on the administration to take the commonsense stand of suspending commercial air travel out of these countries until we get the air travel under control. And for whatever reason, the Obama White House doesn't want to do so.
Q: What mistakes were made?
CRUZ: Throughout this process, there have been mistakes. And listen, dealing with a virus epidemic is a learning process with very high stakes. And so we can't afford mistakes. But the best thing to do is to minimize the initial contact with Ebola.
CRUZ: Well, unfortunately, the approach of the Obama administration to ISIS has been fundamentally unserious. We have dropped a bomb here, a missile there, but it has really been a photo op foreign policy. What we need is a concentrated, directive military objective to take ISIS out. Now, what does that entail? A far more vigorous air campaign than we're seeing. We're dropping a fraction of the ordnance that we have in other campaigns such as Afghanistan.
Q: Do you think it will involve US troops?
CRUZ: Well, there are over 1,500 on the ground right now. But we have a tremendous asset on the ground right now, which is the Kurds, [whom we should arm].
CRUZ: Well, there are over 1,500 on the ground right now. But we have a tremendous asset on the ground right now, which is the Kurds. The Peshmerga have been strong allies of the US. They are effective fighters. And they desperately need weaponry and assistance. And, for whatever reason, the Obama administration has been delaying aiding the Peshmerga, has been running it all through Baghdad, instead of aiding them directly, and has been blocking them from selling oil, which doesn't make sense. And the Obama administration keeps focusing on Syrian rebels, many of whom have far too close ties to radical Islamic terrorists for it to make any sense for us to be supporting them. The Kurds are allies and they are boots on the ground. And when we work with them in concert, they're ready to fight on the front line, along with serious airpower. If it were a military objective to take ISIS out, I think that's what we would be doing.
Many conservative GOP candidates slammed the Supreme Court's rulings--Cruz vowed to introduce a constitutional amendment that would prevent federal courts or government from voiding state laws on marriage--but others considered the more strategic implications.
Mike Huckabee charged that the GOP "establishment" has waved the "white flag of surrender" on gay marriage.
"Intervention is a mistake. Intervention when both sides are evil is a mistake. And yet, here we are again, wading into a civil war," Paul said. His doubts ran contrary to the thinking of Rubio, who advocated an aggressive response.
The debate over arming the rebels to fight the spread of Islamic State has exposed long-brewing schisms for Republicans: A divide between proponents of a muscular American foreign policy, like Rubio and Cruz, vs. advocates of a scaled-back international presence, like Paul.
CRUZ (ON TAPE): What we ought to have is a direct concerted overwhelming air campaign to take them out.
Q (END TAPE): In Iraq and Syria?
CRUZ: The focus should be Iraq, but the real focus should be taking out ISIS. Within Syria, it should not be our objective to try to resolve the civil war in Syria.
Q: You said that the U.S. should bomb ISIS back into the Stone Age. Should that take Congressional approval?
CRUZ: It should absolutely take Congressional approval, I think.
Q (voice-over): But not all Republicans agree. On Friday, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida sent a letter to the White House saying the president doesn't need Congress, he should act swiftly on his own. What advice would you give the president?
CRUZ: I think it is an urgent concern to strike while ISIS is vulnerable.
CRUZ: What we appear to know right now is it appears to have been a Buk Russian missile, and that kind of technology is not randomly found on the streets. That likely found its way into the hands of Russian rebels and Russian separatists in Ukraine because of Putin's direct involvement.
Q: So, how would you get Putin to stop?
CRUZ: We should do a number of things. One, we need vigorous sanctions. We need sanctions that target the Russian energy sector, the Russian financial sector that put serious consequences for what Putin is doing. Two, we should immediately reinstate the antiballistic missile batteries in Eastern Europe that President Obama canceled in 2009 in an effort to appease Russia. And three, we need to open up the export of liquid natural gas, which will help liberate Ukraine and Eastern Europe.
CRUZ: Well, you know, I just got back last week from traveling to Israel and Ukraine and Poland and Estonia. One of the things Ambassador Rice said that was absolutely correct is that American is the indispensable leader. But what our allies are expressing over and over again is that leadership is missing. And the most frequent thing you hear when you talk to an ambassador, a foreign minister of our friends and allies is they pull you aside quietly in hushed tones; they say, "Where is America?" When America's weak, when the American president is weak, it leaves our friends and allies vulnerable.
CRUZ: There's a whole range of activity. President Obama set two straw men: One, invade or two, do nothing. And there's a whole range of intermediate steps. Pres. Obama should have spoken out clearly in support of freedom, in support of the protesters when the protesters began in the Maidan Square. I had the privilege of traveling through the Maidan Square, being led by 16-year-old high school girl who saw her compatriots shot by army snipers And they continue to protest for freedom. America should speak out for freedom. But then after that, we should stand with our allies and not give into Russia. We should, right now, install the anti-ballistic missile batteries in Eastern Europe, in Poland, the Czech Republic, that were scheduled to go in 2009, that Pres. Obama canceled in an effort to appease Putin. That hadn't worked. And we should be using energy as a tool to help liberate the Ukrainian people and to impose costs on Putin.
"I don't agree with him on foreign policy," Cruz said then. "I think U.S. leadership is critical in the world. And I agree with him that we should be very reluctant to deploy military force abroad. But I think there is a vital role, just as Ronald Reagan did."
Paul went on to defend his foreign policy, which tends to be less interventionist than other Republicans': "I think on a lot of these issues, yes, that I'm well within the Republican tradition," Paul said.
CRUZ (VIDEO TAPE): A critical reason for Putin's aggression has been President Obama's weakness. That Putin fears no retribution. You better believe Putin sees in Benghazi four Americans are murdered and nothing happens. There is no retribution. You better believe that Putin sees that in Syria, Obama draws a red line and ignores the red line.
Q: (ON CAMERA): So how would you stand up? What would you do? Military action?
CRUZ: No. No, look, not at all.
Q: Sanctions? Would you do sanctions?
CRUZ: Absolutely, yes. There are a host of things we can do. Let's rewind the clock a little bit. #1, don't demonstrate weakness for five years. We have seen historically over and over again tyrants respond to weakness. We keep making that mistake with Putin. Putin is a KGB thug. When the protests began in Ukraine, the president should have stood unapologetically, emphatically for freedom. And when the US doesn't speak for freedom, tyrants notice.
CRUZ: I'm a big fan of Rand Paul. I don't agree with him on foreign policy. I think U.S. leadership is critical in the world. And I agree with him that we should be very reluctant to deploy military force aboard. But I think there is a vital role, just as Ronald Reagan did. When Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire," when he stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate and said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," those words changed the course of history. The United States has a responsibility to defend our values.
CRUZ: If enough Congressional Democrats realize they either stand with ObamaCare and lose, or they listen to the American people and have a chance at staying in office, that's the one scenario we could do it in 2015. If not, we'll do it in 2017.
Q: So you honestly think there's a chance that you can get ObamaCare repealed, every word, as you say?
CRUZ: Every single word.
Q: With Obama in the White House?
CRUZ: You know, what's funny is the media treats that as a bizarre proposition.
Q: Well, it is.
CRUZ: It is the most unpopular law in the country. Millions of people have lost their jobs, have lost their health care, have been forced into part-time work, have their premiums skyrocketing. And right now, Washington isn't listening to those people. That's how we win elections and that's also how we repeal ObamaCare.
In an opinion piece published in The Iowa Republican, Cruz, a lawyer himself, touted Grassley and his accomplishments in the Senate. "Well, let me tell you something. Washington would be a lot better off if we had more farmers in Congress and a lot fewer trial lawyers," Cruz writes. "I'm a constitutional lawyer who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and in my opinion Chuck Grassley--that Iowa farmer whom Braley was denigrating--would make an outstanding chairman of that committee," he went on.
CRUZ: Of course we should do something. We shouldn't just write a blank check. Five years ago, the national debt was $10 trillion. Today, it's over $17 trillion. It's grown nearly 70% with one president in five years. Ask any American outside of Washington, "Should we just keep raising the debt ceiling while doing nothing to have fundamental structural control of spending?" In the past, the debt ceiling has been the most effective lever point for real structural reforms whether it was Graham-Rudman, which did great job of getting government spending under control, or whether it was the Budget Control Act. Both of those came through the debt ceiling. And what the president is saying is he just wants a blank credit card to keep growing and growing the dealt. And I think that's irresponsible. I think it's irresponsible to our kids and grandkids to stick that debt on them, because we can't live within our means.
CRUZ: In terms of whether we should have stood and fought on ObamaCare, I think the proof is in the pudding. Millions of people across the country have seen why we were standing and fighting because ObamaCare is a disaster. Five million Americans all across this country had their health insurance canceled because of ObamaCare. [Obama should] look in the camera say, "I'm sorry. I told you if you like your health insurance plan you can keep it. I told you if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor and that wasn't true." But then, here is the real kicker, if you are really sorry, you actually do something to fix the problem. The pattern we've seen over and over again with this president is he says he's sorry, expresses outrage then doesn't fix the problem, he keeps doing it over and over.
CRUZ: Well, what I put out are the questions that I'm hearing from Texans all over the state. I spend a lot of time traveling the state of Texas listening to Texans. And the questions they raise--over and over again, they say, why are jobs and economic growth so dismal? We've got the lowest labor force participation in over three decades, since 1978. President Obama [should] address the fact that his economic policies are not working and that they're exacerbating income equality. They're hurting the people who are struggling the most.
Q: Well, of course, what he would say is that he is creating more jobs, that unemployment is going down and on and on. [Is this like when you] tried to shut down the government in demand for some action by the president?
CRUZ: President Obama dug in and said he wouldn't compromise. The senate Republicans were invited up to the White House and [Obama] said "I invited you here to tell you I will not negotiate."
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The above quotations are from Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2014, interviewing presidential hopefuls for 2016.
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