Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul says that Donald Trump’s proposal for a conditional ban on all Muslims from entering the United States is probably unconstitutional.
“I don’t believe that kind of proposal would be constitutional,” McCaul said during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with several reporters in Washington D.C. this morning, referring to his oath to defend the Constitution.
“We were founded upon freedom of religion, this country is protected by the Constitution, so I would argue that there are questions regarding the constitution – which is our first obligation,” he said.
He agreed that the radical Islamist terrorist threat was real, but said Islamic State terrorists believe in a “perverted” version of Islam which did not include the entire religion.
“My job as chairman of Homeland Security is not keep all Muslims outside the United States, but to stop those who would impose a terrorist threat to Americans outside the United States – whether they be Muslim or they be of another color or religion,” he explained.
He proposed that more Sunni Arabs around the world confront the radical threat in their midst, including their faith.
“You want them to have skin in the game, you want them to clean up their own back yard and their own religion,” he said, proposing that the United States would be willing to back their efforts.
But McCaul warned that “inflammatory statements” in America against Muslims were “counterproductive” to national security efforts would likely be used by ISIS in their propaganda material.
“They take things like this and then they spin it to their advantage to inflame the Muslim world to get more recruits to join the cause,” he said.
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