“It is our fight,” Graham replied. “It is not just their fight. This is a radical Islamic army that is pushing the theory of a master religion, not a master race like the Nazis. … It’s about protecting millions of people throughout the world. … They’re intending to come here. So I will not let this president suggest to the American people we can outsource our security and this is not about our safety.”

“Our strategy will fail yet again,” he said. “This president needs to rise to the occasion before we all get killed here at home.” (There is no consensus among intelligence officials about the extent of the threat posed by Islamic State to the United States.) An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Annenberg poll whose results were disclosed on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday suggests that the American public agrees with Graham’s skepticism. Sixty-eight percent think that the president’s plan is unlikely to succeed.