Jeb Bush in CBS "Face the Nation" interviews during 2015

On Foreign Policy: Duty to protect religious minorities & Christian refugees

BUSH: Look, it is already in the law that there is a requirement to screen for religion. This is the practice of our country. There was a bipartisan bill that of course didn't pass in Congress this year to provide preference for Christians who are being slaughtered in the Middle East, persecuted based on their faith. Religious minorities, I think, should have some preference. I think we ought to do what we can to provide support for the refugees. The best means to do it are safe havens inside of Syria. That is ultimately what we need to do, and this president hasn't led in that regard.

On Foreign Policy: Russia won't be an ally in Syria but maintain communication

BUSH: I don't think we will. I have great doubts whether Russia would make that big kind of sea change. But we always should be in dialogue with Russia. My problem is, talking to Russia from a position of weakness only enables their objectives. It has nothing to do with ours. If we were stronger, we would be in a better position to deal with them.

On War & Peace: No-fly zone in Syria; arm Kurds; establish Sunni coalition

BUSH: I would say a no-fly zone, creating safe zones in Syria, directly arming the Kurds in Iraq, reengaging both politically and militarily with the Sunnis - the Sunni tribal leaders who were effective partners in the creation of the surge. Have our troops be embedded with the Iraqi military. But, basically, all of this needs to be a strategy, not just one-off kind of incremental decisions being made by this president who wants to run out the clock. The strategy ought to be, how do we destroy ISIS and how do we create stability in the aftermath? And, right now, we have neither.

On War & Peace: Send troops to Syria to then remain to maintain stability

BUSH: I think it is wrong. I think that had we kept a small force in Iraq, we wouldn't have the mess that we have right now.

Q: You want troops to go in, but then everybody agrees there need to be some kind of stability afterwards. If 10,000 was a good sustaining force in Iraq after all the activities, but this is a totally new adventure, it would seem that upwards of 10,000 troops would be necessary for the kind of engagement you're talking about.

BUSH: If I'm commander in chief, my first order is, give me options, and if the military says that we need a fighting force of X- thousand, and this is the best way to destroy ISIS, then I would take that under advisement for sure.

On Education: Common Core is not a federal takeover

On the political ticking bomb of Common Core, Bush answered that "Common is not a federal takeover." "What we should say in the reauthorization of the K-12 law is that the federal government has no role in the curriculum," Bush said. The political rift has grown so wide between the moderate Republican and the rest of the conservative base that some CPAC members planned a "walkout" of Bush. About a few dozen protesters, many of them wearing Rand Paul shirts, left at the beginning of Bush's segment, following a "Don't Tread on Me" flag.

In a closing "lightning"-style round of questions, Bush was asked what type of conservative he considered himself to be. His answer only proved the point: "A practicing reform-minded conservative," Bush said.

On Immigration: There is no plan to deport 11 million people

[When asked about] this policy fissure with the conservative base, Bush responded, "I know there's disagreement here," acknowledging boos that came from the right wing crowd. "I feel your pain. But there is no plan to deport 11 million people," Bush continued. "We should give them a path for legal status where they work, they don't get government benefits, where they learn English."

And though he prioritized security along the nation's border, he believed the GOP could also broker an agreement on other reform possibilities. "Let's do it. Let's control the border," Bush said. "There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing that holds back the Republicans from putting a comprehensive plan in place to do it."