>> IVE SAID ALL ALONG THE PRESIDENT MANY TIMES SAYS WHAT
PEOPLE ARE THINKING.
>> JOINING ME FROM BOWLING
GREEN, KENTUCKY, REPUBLICAN
SENATOR RAND PAUL.
SENATOR PAUL, WELCOME BACK TO "MEET THE PRESS," SIR.BACK TO
"MEET THE PRESS," SIR. >> GOOD MORNING.
>> DURING THE CAMPAIGN YOU
LAMENTED THE FACT THAT WHEN YOU
GOT INTO THE RACE YOU WERE DOING
THINGS LIKE SPEAKING AT HOWARD, TRYING TO SHOW -- EXPAND THERD,
TRYING TO SHOW -- EXPAND THE TENT OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND
TRY TO BEAT BACK THIS STEREOTYPE
ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AND
YOU LAMENTED AT THE TIME THE
LANGUAGE CANDIDATE TRUMP HAD
USED.
AS PRESIDENT, WHEN HES GONE
DOWN THESE ROADS, YOUVE
ACTUALLY PULLED BACK AND YOUVE NOT GONE AFTER HIM FOR SPECIFIC
COMMENTS.
COMMENTS.
YOUVE HIT HIM ON POLICY BUT NOT COMMENTS. HIM ON POLICY BUT NOT
COMMENTS.
WHERE ARE YOU ON THIS?
>> YOU KNOW, I DONT THINK THE
COMMENTS WERE CONSTRUCTIVE AT
ALL, BUT I ALSO THINK THAT TO BE
FAIR WE SHOULDNT DRAW
CONCLUSIONS THAT HE DIDNT
INTEND.
I KNOW PERSONALLY ABOUT HIS FEELINGS TOWARDS HAITI ANDS
FEELINGS TOWARDS HAITI AND
TOWARD CENTRAL AMERICA BECAUSE
WHEN I WAS NOT A CANDIDATE FOR
PRESIDENT AND HE WASNT A
CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT I WENT DOWN THERE ON A MEDICAL MISSION
TRIP, I DID ABOUT 200 CATARACT
SURGERIES WITH A GROUP OF
SURGEONS IN HAITI AND THE SAME
IN CENTRAL AMERICA, AND WHEN WE
ASKED DONALD J. TRUMP AS PRIVATE
CITIZEN TO SUPPORT THOSE TRIPS,
HE WAS A LARGE FINANCIAL BACKER
OF BOTH MEDICAL MISSION TRIPS.
SO ITS UNFAIR TO DRAW
CONCLUSIONS FROM A REMARK THAT I
THINK WASNT CONSTRUCTIVE IS THE
LEAST WE CAN SAY, AND ITS
UNFAIR TO ALL OF A SUDDEN PAINT HIM AS HES A RACIST WHEN I KNOW
FOR A FACT HE CARES DEEPLY ABOUT
THE PEOPLE IN HAITI BECAUSE HE
HELPED FINANCE A MEDICAL MISSION
TRIP TO HAITI.
>> ARE YOU MORE DISTURBED,
THOUGH, BY THE COMMENT -- ITS
LESS ABOUT THE VUL FAR TIGARITY
MORE TO SAY WHY CANT WE HAVE
IMMIGRANTS FROM NORWAY AS
OPPOSED TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN
COUNTRIES?
COUNTRIES?
MANY NONQUITE AMERICANS HERE, OH, SO HE WANTS WHITE PEOPLE,
NOT BLACK PEOPLE.
>> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. BUT I THINK PEOPLE JUMPED A
LITTLE TO A CONCLUSION.
LETS TAKE THE WHOLE SCENARIO
AND PUT DIFFERENT WORD IN THERE.
LETS SAY WED RATHER HAVE
PEOPLE FROM ECONOMICALLY
PROSPEROUS COUNTRIES RATHER THAN
DEPRIVED COUNTRIES OR REALIZE
THERE ARE MORE PROBLEMS IN
DEPRIVED COUNTRIES SO ITS A
BIGGER IMPETUS FOR THEM TO WANT
TO COME.
TO COME. THERE STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN SOME
CONTROVERSY BUT NOT AS MUCH.
WHAT I CAN SAY IS IF YOU DO A
POLL AND ONE OF THE WORLD-WIDE
POLLING COMPANIES DID THIS,
ASKED PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE TO
COME TO AMERICA, ABOUT 700
MILLION WOULD COME NEXT YEAR AND
WED DOUBLE OUR POPULATION.
WE DO HAVE TO LIMIT IT.
IF YOU LOOK AT WHERE THEYD RATHER COME FROM, IF YOU LIVE IN
A POOR COUNTRY, YOURE MORE
LIKELY TO COME THAN IF YOU LIVE
IN ENGLAND OR NORWAY.
>> THATS THE STORY OF THE
UNITED STATES, RIGHT?
>> SAY AGAIN?
>> THATS THE STORY OF OUR
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY.
>> IT IS THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY, BUT WHAT IM SAYING IS
YOU CAN SEE WHY THERE ARE MORE
PEOPLE WANTING TO COME FROM
ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED AREAS
AND THEY CANT ALL COME, SO IT
GETS INTO THE VALID, LEGITIMATE
DEBATE OVER IMMIGRATION AS HOW
WE CHOOSE.
WE CHOOSE. DO WE HAVE A DIVERSITY LOTTERY
AND TAKE PEOPLE FROM EVERYWHERE
OR BASE IT MORE ON MERIT?
THERE ARE LOT OF QUESTIONS THAT THIS ULTIMATELY INTERSECTS WITH
POLICY.
POLICY.
THE ONLY THING I REGRET FROM ALL OF THIS, AND SOME IN THE MEDIALL
OF THIS, AND SOME IN THE MEDIA HAVE GONE BONKERS, AD HOMINEM ON
THE PRESIDENT, WHAT I DO REGRET
IS I WANT TO SEE AN IMMIGRATION
COMPROMISE AND YOU CANT IF
EVERYBODY IS CALLING THE
PRESIDENT A RACIST.
THEYRE DESTROYING THE SETTING,
BOTH SIDE ARE DESTROYING THE
SETTING IN WHICH ANYTHING
MEANINGFUL CAN HAPPEN ON
IMMIGRATION.
IMMIGRATION.
>> THATS WHERE I WANT TO SEGUE. YOU SAID THE WORD MERIT. SEGUE.
YOU SAID THE WORD MERIT. THE PRESIDENT THIS MORNING IN A
TWEET SAID I AS PRESIDENT WANT
PEOPLE COMEING TO OUR COUNTRY WH
WILL HELP US BECOME STRONG AND
GREAT AGAIN, PEOPLE COMING IN
BASED ON A SYSTEM OFASYLUM?
IS MERIT RUNNING AWAY FROM
MERIT?
MERIT?
WHAT IS MERIT? BECAUSE THAT IS AN EYE OF THE
BEHOLDER WORD, SIR.
>> I THINK SO.
BUT I THINK A LOT OF IT IS INTENT TO WORK AND PEOPLE WHO
WANT TO WORK.
THERE ARE JOBS OF ALL DIFFERENT
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL LEVEL.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOURE A
SOFTWARE ENGINEER AND YOUVE GOT
A Ph.D. AND YOUVE GONE TO ONE
OF OUR UNIVERSITIES, THOSE ARE
THE KIND OF PEOPLE THAT SAY OH
MY GOODNESS, STAPLE A GREEN CARD
TO THEIR DIPLOMA.
THOSE ARE EASY.
WE ALSO NEED PEOPLE TO PICK
TOMATOES AND WORK IN THE
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AND THERES
MERIT TO THAT ALSO.
IF YOURE GOING TO COME HERE AND
NOT WORK, YOU HAVE NO MERIT.
I WOULD COMBINE NOT ONLY BEING
SELECTIVE BUT I WOULD HAVE A
VERY SIGNIFICANT WORK AND
RESPONSIBILITY SHOR SPONSORSHIP.TY SHOR
SPONSORSHIP.
IN THE OLD DAYS, WHEN MY WIFES GRANDMOTHER CAME HERE, YOUIFES
GRANDMOTHER CAME HERE, YOU NEEDED TO WORK.
THERE NEED TO BE TOUGH SO WE
SELECT OUT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE
STRONG WORK ETHIC.
I WOULD SAY, BY THE WAY, MOST
IMMIGRANT WHO IS DO COME HERE
HAVE MAYBE BETTER WORK ETHIC
THAN SOME WHO ARE ALREADY HERE.
>> THATS ACTUALLY USUALLY BEEN
THE CASE WHEN IT COMES TO IMMIGR
YOU SEEM TO SAY DEMOCRATS HAVE
TO STOP CALLING THE PRESIDENT
NAMES.
NAMES.
DOESNT THE PRESIDENT OWE AN APOLOGY FOR SOME OF THIS?AN
APOLOGY FOR SOME OF THIS? ME ALONE, THE
MIA, THE DAUGHTER OF HAITIAN
IMMIGRANTS, WANTS A POLICY.
>> THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT
STANDARDS HERE.
STANDARDS HERE. IN 2013, LINDSEY GRAHAM SAID THE
EXACT SAME THING THE PRESIDENT
DID, USED THE WORD HELLHOLE, WE
CANT HAVE EVERYBODY FROM EVERY
HELLHOLE COMING HERE.
NOW LINDSEY GRAHAM PUTS OUT A
STATEMENT ABOUT AMERICAN IDEALS,
A GOOD STATEMENT, BUT HE SAID
ALMOST THE IDENTICAL THING TO
THE PRESIDENT IN 2013.
SO I THINK WE HAVE A SELECTIVE
REMEMBERING AND WEVE DECIDED
THAT -- AND PEOPLE HAVE --
>> WAIT, WAIT, WAIT.
BUT SENATOR, HASNT THE
PRESIDENT EARNED THIS SKEPTICISM
ON HIS OWN?
I MEAN, HES THE ONE TWEETING
THESE REMARKS.
THESE REMARKS. >> HE HAS OFTEN NOT HELPED HIS
CASE, AND I THINK IF HE WERE TO
FURTHER EXPLAIN OR TRY TO
EXPLAIN AND MAYBE NOT USE SUCH
COARSE LANGUAGE, IT WOULDNT BE
THIS WAY.
THIS WAY. IF WE WERE TO HAVE A DEBATE ON
WHETHER OR NOT WE COULD HAVE AN
OPEN BORDER WITH EVERY
ECONOMICALLY DEPRIVED COUNTRY,
THAT IS A VALID DEBATE, AND
PEOPLE ARE DRIVEN HERE BY
POVERTY, BUT WE CANT HAVE AN
OPEN BORDER WITH EVERYONE WHO
WANTS TO COME.
WE HAVE TO HAVE RULES ON OUR
BORDER.
BORDER.
WE HAVE TO BE SOMEWHAT SELECTIVE ON WHO COMES. SOMEWHAT SELECTIVE
ON WHO COMES. SO I THINK THERE WAS A VALID
ARGUMENT IN THERE, BUT YOU GOT
SORT OF QUEEN SALTINESS COMING
OUT, AND THEN I THINK PEOPLE
MISINTERPRETED HES A RACI.
BUFF I CAN TELL YOU THAT WHEN I
WENT TO HAITI AND WAS DOING A
MEDICAL MISSION TRIP, HE WAS
VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THOSE IN
HAITI AND WANTED TO HELP THEM
RESTORE THEIR VISION.
>> I WANT TO ASK WHERE YOU ARE
ON THE VARIOUS COMPROMISES THAT
ARE OUT THERE.
ISLE PUT UP A QUICK GRAPHIC.
THERES A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE
COMPROMISE BILL IN THE SENATE, LINDSEY GRAHAM AND DICK DURBIN
ON THE LEFT, ADDITIONAL MONEY
FOR BORDER SECURITY,
D.R.E.A.M.ers AND THEIR PARENTS,
DIVERSITY, LOTTERY ENDED, BUT
SLOTS REALLOCATED.
SLOTS REALLOCATED. CAN YOU SUPPORT SOMETHING LIKE
THAT, OR DO YOU THINK THATS TOO
OPEN BORDERS FOR YOUR TASTE?
>> I CAN SUPPORT A COMPROMISE,
AND IN FACT IVE BEEN OFFERING
TO THE DEMOCRATS A COMPROMISE
FOR ABOUT SIX MONTHS THAT
THEYVE TURNED THEIR HEAD AND
SNIFFED AT AND SAID, OH, NO, WE
DONT HAVE TO GIVE UP ANYTHING,
WERE JUST GOING TO GET WHAT WE
WANT.
WANT.
MY COMPROMISE ALL ALONG IS THOSE HERE, THEIR PARENTS BROUGHT THEM
HERE ILLEGALLY, WE COULD
INTERNALLY IMMIGRATE THEM, COUNT
THEM AGAINST THE NORMAL TOTALS.
SO NEXT YEAR, A MILLION PEOPLE
WILL COME, AND IF YOU HAD 200
FOUR CORNERS D.R.E.A.M.200000
D.R.E.A.M.er KIDS, THE
IMMIGRATION TOTALS ARENT GOING UP, THEYRE STAYING THE SAME.NG
UP, THEYRE STAYING THE SAME. THE DEMOCRATS HAVE SNIFFED A EDE
THAT AND SAID WE WANT OUR
D.R.E.A.M.er ACT WITHOUT
ANYTHING.
ANYTHING.
I THINK THE PRESIDENT HAS
CHANGED THE DYNAMIC.
THERE IS GOING TO BE THE
D.R.E.A.M.ers ARE GOING TO GET
NATURALIZED, BUT THERE WILL HAVE
TO BE SOMETHING FOR BORDER SKIRT, ANDSKIRT FOR BORDER
SKIRT, ANDSKIRT SECURITY, AND IT HAS TO BE REAL
AND SIGNIFICANT.
AND SIGNIFICANT.
GOING BACK TO 86, WHEN PEOPLE SAID THERE WOULD BE BORDERPLE
SAID THERE WOULD BE BORDER SECURITY AND IT WOULD COME
LATER, IT NEVER COMES.
>> THAT IS AN ARGUMENT WE HAVE
HEARD FOR A LONG TIME.
SENATOR PAUL, I APPRECIATE THAT.
ITS GOING TO BE PERFECT TIMING