During a visit to San Diego Tuesday, presidential candidate Ben Carson criticized the Obama administration's plan to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
"Unless somebody comes up with a foolproof vetting process, why would we bring people into this country, under these circumstances where we know that there are global Jihadists who want to wreak havoc on us? It doesn't make any sense," Carson said.
Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon, turned to Facebook earlier in the week to announce he would ask Congress to stop the plan.
President Barack Obama spoke in Antalya, Turkey, Monday at the site of the G20 summit, and said the refugees would be admitted into the country "only after subjecting them to rigorous screening and security checks."
"Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values," Obama said.
Carson, who is near the top of many GOP presidential preference polls, joins Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as candidates who have called for closing American borders to Syrians. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday on Fox News Radio that he wants a "timeout" in the Syrian refugee program until a vetting system is in place "that we think will work."
Carson also took the opportunity to address those who question his knowledge on foreign policy.
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"I'm looking at a much bigger picture," he explained. "So for instance when somebody like Chris Wallace says, 'Who's the first person you're gonna call in order to put together a coalition,' I know better than to pick a particular country because the very next thing they're gonna say is why would you call that one first and not this one first?" Carson said.
When it comes to his stance on battling the threat from ISIS, Carson said he would use every resource known to the U.S.
"If we fight them on their turf, we're less likely to have to fight them on our turf. So I would really step up our efforts to eradicate them in the Middle East," he said.
He also suggested using Iraqi forces to take back the oil fields the organization uses as a financial resource.
