Asked by Blitzer about his 2016 plans, King said he’s “certainly looking at” the possibility, which will include a trip to New Hampshire next month. He said when he ran into Hillary Clinton yesterday he told her to “get ready.”

“I’m looking at this because I see people like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, and to me, I don’t want the Republican Party going in that direction,” King said. Whether it’s him or someone else, he said he would do what he can to make sure the “realistic foreign policy wing” or “national security wing” of the party “does not give in to the isolationists.”

Rep. King has clashed with the younger generation of Republicans repeatedly over the last several years, recently saying Sen. Paul would make a “disastrous president” and acting as the leading critic of the Sen. Cruz-led government shutdown last fall.