McCaul: ‘Inflammatory’ Calls to Patrol Muslim Neighborhoods Could Have ‘Unintended Consequences’

Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” when asked about Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) calls to secure and patrol Muslim neighborhoods, House Homeland Security chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said, “I think to send inflammatory messages could actually have an unintended consequences.”

Partial transcript as follows:

DICKERSON: I would like to ask you about Senator Ted Cruz’s comments about securing and patrolling Muslim neighborhoods. What do you think of that idea?

MCCAUL: Well, in Europe, you have very different situation than you do in the United States. In Europe, it’s very segregated. And you have the diasporas in Belgium that I saw. And they’re being radicalized because they’re not assimilated with the culture. I don’t think we have that same situation in the United States. And I know that NYPD, as John Miller talked about, really have a great outreach program to the Muslim community. I think the effective thing is, I passed this bill to combat violent extremism in the United States as effective outreach to the Muslim community, so you can pull the religious leaders really on to our team, if you will, to protect us from radicalization from within those communities. I think to send inflammatory messages could actually have an unintended consequences.

DICKERSON: Well, that’s — in the 30 seconds we have left, I want to just follow up on that. Do you think that this kind of surveillance would push, create the sense of radicalization that we see in Europe here in America?

MCCAUL: I think we can get good intelligence from the Muslim communities in our outreach efforts that are working with the religious leaders in the communities in the United States. As a federal prosecutor, there were times when that was called for, but under the Constitution…

DICKERSON: Mr. Chairman, we’re going to have to end it there. I’m sorry to interrupt. That’s all the time we have.