Senator John McCain of Arizona, a former Republican presidential nominee and leading voice on foreign policy, called the order “confused process” and warned it could aid the very enemy it was designed to guard against.
“I think the effect in some areas will give ISIS some more propaganda,” he said.
Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, likewise conceded problems with the order’s rollout and called for a re-evaluation of the White House’s unilateral effort.
“You have an extreme vetting proposal that did not get the vetting it should have had,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” adding that Congress should be part of finding a solution that “makes sense for our national security and, again, for this notion that America has always been a welcoming home for refugees and immigrants.”
A handful of Republicans, including Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Senator Susan Collins of Maine, had offered similarly cautious criticism of the measure on Saturday.
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