GOP Senator: Trump’s ‘Extreme Vetting’ Order Was ‘Not Properly Vetted’

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Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said in an interview Sunday that President Donald Trump’s executive order to implement “new vetting measures” was itself “not properly vetted.”

“It is not a ban,” Portman said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “However, I think it was not properly vetted. So you have an extreme vetting proposal that didn’t get the vetting it should have had, and as a result in the implementation we’ve seen some problems.”

He suggested that Trump’s administration “slow down.”

“Our country is not as safe as it should be,” Portman said. “We do need to tighten things up.”

He said there was a “general consensus” on that position but that it needed to be implemented in a way that is “consistent with our values.”

“We’ve got to do it in a way that’s consistent with our values and consistent with our national security,” Portman said. “We are this beacon of hope and opportunity for the rest of the world. That’s our self-image. It’s also an important part of our foreign policy.”

On Friday, Trump signed an executive order banning refugees and immigrants from certain countries from entering the United States.

Advisors have claimed that the order is not the ban on Muslim immigration that Trump often touted on the campaign trail, but the order stipulates that Christians and other members of minority religions be given priority over Muslims.

Watch the entire interview below:

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