Rubio: Other Republicans are playing catch-up on foreign policy

Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Rubio was presented with hawkish comments made in recent days by two other potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates: Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). Although Rubio didn’t address them specifically, he said Republicans are only now arriving at positions he has been espousing for a long time.

“Now, since my earliest days in the Senate, and certainly with regards to [the Islamic State], for weeks now, I’ve been arguing that if we don’t deal with them now, we are going to have to deal with them later anyways and it’s going to be harder to deal with them,” Rubio said.

He added that the evolution of others’ positions came “weeks later” than his own decision-making process.