Marco Rubio accuses Obama of "presidential malpractice" in Middle East

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that President Obama has committed "presidential malpractice" when it comes to his foreign policy in the Middle East.

"I think that Exhibit A is what he's done with the Middle East. He ran for office under the notion that our national interest in the Middle East was to disengage as quickly as possible and disentangle from the region. And that has been chaotic," Rubio said. He argued the president's actions, "have been dramatically counterproductive to our foreign policy, and I think have created some generational and reputational damage to the United States of great significance."

Rubio said the administration has sent mixed messages about the U.S. plan to combat the Islamic State of Irag and Syria (ISIS, also known as ISIL), leading American allies to believe that the country's foreign policy "is in the hands of someone who does not know what he's doing."

Mr. Obama announced in an interview on "Meet the Press" Sunday that he plans to deliver a speech Wednesday detailing plans to "hunt down" ISIS.

"I hope that that will include a sustained air campaign involving every element of our air power, targeting the supply lines, targeting their command and control structures," said Rubio, who has not previously backed air strikes against Syria. "I hope that will include their central command and control structures within Syria. I also hope he's announcing that he's going to target the refineries that they now control in Syria, revenues from which they're using to fund their operations."

Rubio said airstrikes in Syria are "critical" if the U.S. wants to defeat ISIS.

"You cannot defeat ISIL unless you hit them in those parts of Syria that they now control, where the Syrian government is not even present," he said.

When the president called for airstrikes against the Syrian regime after it used chemical weapons in the civil war last year, Rubio was one of the lawmakers who was reluctant.

"The president characterized (the airstrikes at the time) basically as a symbolic military action against the Assad government, which I thought would be counterproductive," he said. "I thought the best way to topple Assad was not through airstrikes. But through equipping the moderate rebel elements."

But Rubio said he believes ISIS poses a threat to the U.S., particularly because of the foreign fighters who have become radicalized but still hold U.S. passports, which calls for a different approach.

He was critical of the president's assertion in "Meet the Press" Sunday that there has been no immediate intelligence to indicate ISIS poses a threat to the homeland.

"For us to simply sit back and say, 'We don't think they pose a threat,' because we haven't seen one, I think would be short-sighted," Rubio said. "The fact of the matter is this group has among their ranks hundreds if not thousands of people with the capability of entering the United States quickly and easily. And we should not take that lightly."

He welcomed voices in his party who have called for more aggressive action, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who had previously been reluctant to push for aggressive American action abroad.

"Reality in the real world has a way of doing that," Rubio said. "The fact that there are now more voices actually echoing that, albeit weeks later, I think it's a positive development. "

Host Bob Schieffer also asked Rubio about whether he plans to run for president in 2016, when he is also up for reelection in the Senate.

"It's going to be about where can I best advocate for a 21st century reform agenda that allows us to usher in another American century," Rubio said. "The decision I have to make is can I best do that as a senator, or can I best do that as running and hopefully winning a presidency. And that's a question I'll have more clarity on after this midterm. Because I can promise you this: the one place where I will not be able to do that from is a Senate that is still run by Harry Reid, that allows no votes on anything of substance or importance."

He was also critical of Mr. Obama's announcement that he will delay action on immigration until after the midterm elections.

"It's definitely politics," Rubio said. "He doesn't want to be held accountable by the electorate in the midterm elections for an action that he knows is unpopular."