George Pataki in CNN 2015 GOP primary debate

On Civil Rights: Uphold rule of law;fire those who won't perform gay marriage

PATAKI: We have a rule in America: an elected official can't say I'm not going to follow that law if it conflicts with my beliefs. I think she should have been fired and if she worked for me, I would have fired her. We have to uphold the rule of law. Imagine that was a Muslim who said "I don't believe in gay marriage," and refused to perform that wedding. We wouldn't have had that outrage. There's a place where religion supersedes the rule of law. It's called Iran. It shouldn't be the United States.

SANTORUM: People have a fundamental right in the First Amendment; that's the freedom of conscience.

PATAKI: You should be able to engage in your religious belief as you see fit. But when you are an elected official and you take an oath of office to uphold the law, all the laws, you cannot pick & choose or you no longer have a society that depends on the rule of law.

On Corporations: 12% manufacturing tax rate, so we'll make things in America

PATAKI: I agree with Rick on manufacturing, but my approach is different. I would pass a rate on manufacturing of 12%, the lowest in the developed world so we can make things in America again. I know how important those jobs are. When I went through college, Christmas and summer vacations, I worked in a factory. My grandparents worked in a factory. We have the opportunity now with lower energy costs, with the world labor cost getting higher, to make things in America so we don't have to worry about China. Lower the tax burden on manufacturing; improve the work skills of Americans; get rid of job killing regulations.

On Government Reform: Lifetime ban on elected officials becoming lobbyists

On Immigration: Deport only criminal aliens; but end sanctuary cities

Step two is, we have to stop releasing criminals into the communities. If you are charged with a crime as an illegal alien, you should either be in jail or be deported. You should not released, as the Obama administration has done. Of course, we should outlaw sanctuary cities and hold them responsible.

But we can't ignore 11 million people who are here. What are we going to do? We're not going to send them back, despite somebody saying we're going to drag kids out of classrooms and send them back.

What I would do is require those who want to have legal status, not citizenship, come forward, acknowledg

On Immigration: Birthright citizenship is ok; don't deport those kids

PATAKI: I don't think we should tell children born in America that we're going to send them back. The way to avoid that is to have an intelligent immigration policy where we know who is coming here, why they are coming here, so we don't have this flood of people coming for the wrong reasons

On Principles & Values: Need judges and courts that support the rule of law

On Tax Reform: Raise taxes on fat-cat hedge fund managers

On Tax Reform: Keep home mortgage deduction & charitable deductions

SANTORUM: [My 20/20 plan] eliminates all the deductions and special interest provisions.

Q [to PATAKI]: Would you also be for doing away with people's deductions for their mortgages.

PATAKI: No, I would not. I would keep that deduction. I would keep the home mortgage deduction, the charitable deduction, and others.

On War & Peace: Give the Israelis massive MOPS bombs to use against Iran

PATAKI: Not on the table but I think there's a lot that does work. And that is to have a strong America, a strong military and a resolve where the Iranians know that not only are we going to reject this deal on day one and re-impose sanctions but, if they move forward with the nuclear program, their safety for those facilities will be at risk. I'll tell you a couple of things I'd do. I'd give the Israelis bombs called MOPs, massive ordnance penetrators. Give them to Israel. Let the Iranians know we're prepared to work with Israel to make sure they never have a nuclear weapon.

On War & Peace: Radical Islam poses threat here in America, like on 9/11