www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvV3rh4aKGghttp://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-transcript-july-5-2015-n386996I met up with Cruz on Friday in Atlanta in between stops for his new book, A Time for Truth, about reigniting the American promise. And I began by asking him about the recent Supreme Court decisions on Obamacare and same-sex marriage which he compared to some of the darkest days in American history.
TED CRUZ:
In a period of 24 hours, we had two decisions of the Supreme Court where a majority of the justices violated their judicial oaths. In one, they ignored the text of federal law. They rewrote Obamacare, forcing that failed law on millions of Americans, and then the next day, five justices disregarded the text of the Constitution and purported to strike down the marriage laws of all 50 states.
And I agree with Justice Scalia who said in two powerful descents-- and I would urge everyone of your viewers to read Justice Scalia's dissents.
He said that these decisions are an assault on democracy. That this is five unelected lawyers declaring they are the rulers of 320 million Americans. I believe in democracy and the Constitution. And I think when the Supreme Court violates their oaths and undermines the Constitution, that is a grave threat to our nation.
CHUCK TODD:
Well, let's go to the-- the issue of marriage. The minute the federal government gives tax benefits based on marriage, doesn't it-- doesn't it make marriage a suddenly a federal decision that the-- the Supreme Court does have to make a decision?
TED CRUZ:
Of course, it doesn't. From the beginning of our country, literally, from the first days of our country, marriage has always been a question for the states. You know, on the question of gay marriage, on the policy issue, reasonable minds can disagree. I-- I am a strong supporting of traditional marriage, of the union of one man and one woman. You and I may disagree on that. But under the Constitution, there was a mechanism for us to resolve our disagreements, which is if you wanna change the marriage laws of your state, the Constitutional mechanism is to convince your fellow citizens to change the marriage laws. Now, what that might mean is that some states, California, New York, maybe they would go one way. And other states, like Texas and Florida, they may go another way. it is profoundly troubling when you have Supreme Court justices not following their judicial oath. And taking the role of policy makers and legislators, rather than being judges.
CHUCK TODD:
You wanna go another step further. You wanna make them part of the political process. You wanna have them deal in retention elections. Doesn't that politicize the Court more?
TED CRUZ:
Well--
CHUCK TODD:
Any state that has elections for judges, they're raising money, they're-- it-- it-- it-- it weakens the judiciary branch, does it not?
TED CRUZ:
Well, it-- it is the justices who have politicized the Court. They are the ones who have stepped in to try to resolve every policy matter. They shouldn't be rewriting Obamacare. You know, Chief Justice Roberts famously used the analogy of an umpire calling balls and strikes. Well, they stopped being an umpire. They became a player on a team.
They put on an Obama jersey. They got out the eraser, they erased terms in the statute and rewrote it, joining the Obama administration. That was wrong. And th-- and that's why I reluctantly called for a Constitutional amendment for periodic judicial retention elections.
CHUCK TODD:
Let's bring up-- Donald Trump. You defended him. Your former governor, Rick Perry, has criticized him. You've had an experience with plenty of Mexican immigrants in Texas. Are they-- are these immigrants that are coming into Texas what Donald Trump describes? Are they drug dealers, rapists, and-- and-- and such?
TED CRUZ:
Listen, I-- I am a passionate advocate for legal immigrants. I am the son of an immigrant who came legally from Cuba. And I'll tell you, from the day I started campaigning, I traveled the state of Texas, talking about how all of us, we are the children of those who risked everything for freedom. That that immigrant experience of all of us is what makes us Americans, because we value in our DNA liberty and opportunity above all else.
Now, when it comes to Donald Trump, I like Donald Trump. He's bold, he's brash. And I get that-- that-- that it seems the favorite sport of the Washington media is to encourage some Republicans to attack other Republicans. I ain't gonna do it. I'm not interested in Republican on Republican violence.
CHUCK TODD:
Rhetoric matters.
TED CRUZ:
You know--
CHUCK TODD:
Doesn't rhetoric matter?
TED CRUZ:
I salute Donald Trump for focusing on the need to address illegal immigration. The Washington cartel doesn't want to address that. The Washington cartel doesn't believe we need to secure the borders. The Washington cartel supports amnesty and I think amnesty's wrong. And I salute Donald Trump for focusing on it. He has a colorful way of speaking. It's not the way I speak. But I'm not gonna engage in the media's game of throwing rocks and attacking other Republicans. I'm just not gonna do it.
CHUCK TODD:
So let's go to immigration. What do you do with the 11 million?
TED CRUZ:
You know, it's an interesting thing in Washington. That is the question that both President Obama and Democrats love to focus on. How do you solve the problem? You focus on areas of common ground. I am long term optimistic and short term pessimistic on immigration. Long term, I'm optimistic because there's a lotta bipartisan agreement outside of Washington on immigration. There's overwhelming bipartisan agreement, number one, that we need to secure the borders. That we need to finally do something to stop illegal immigration.
CHUCK TODD:
What do you do with the 11 million people though? Do you have to send 'em back, or do you give them a way to get legal?
TED CRUZ:
Chuck, I don't accept the premise that you have to solve every aspect of this problem all at once. President Obama and the Democrats focus on that issue because the question you're asking is the most divisive partisan question in this entire debate. And I don't believe President Obama wants to solve this.
CHUCK TODD:
I understand that it's divisive. But the-- it's still a problem.
TED CRUZ:
B-- but-- but you don't have to solve every problem at once. Look, here's the problem--
CHUCK TODD:
That's fine. But explain how you do it?
TED CRUZ:
I am explaining how. The last time Congress passed immigration reform was in the 1980s. And Congress came to the American people with the following tradeoff. Congress said there were three million people living here illegally. Congress said, "We will grant amnesty to those three million. In exchange, we're gonna secure the borders. We're gonna solve the problem so that illegal immigration goes away."
Well, we all know what happens. The amnesty happened. And the border never got secured.
And here's the sad truth. A lot of Republicans in the Washington cartel, they're all for amnesty too because from the perspective of the Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street, it's cheap labor.
CHUCK TODD:
You still didn't say what you'd do with the 11 million.
TED CRUZ:
Well, my view is first, we secure the borders and solve the problem of illegal immigration. And then I think we can have a conversation about what to do about the people who remain here. I don't think the American people will accept any solution until we demonstrate step number one, we can secure the border.
CHUCK TODD:
So anything's on the table? Potentially deportation or not deportation, but anything's on the table for the 11 million--
TED CRUZ:
I think we should secure the border and then have a conversation at that point. Stop using the Washington approach of I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. The American people aren't going for it.
CHUCK TODD:
You write something-- interesting in your book about your cockiness. It is a frequent topic when people wanna discuss you. Your-- you're brash, you're ambitious, you're in a hurry. And you yourself say it's an issue. Explain where you in where you thought your cockiness cost you a job in the Bush administration.
TED CRUZ:
Well, look I discuss the time I spent back in 1999 and 2000 on the Bush campaign. And I was a young man in my twenties. I'd-- I'd enjoyed a lotta success. Almost everything I'd laid my hands to had gone well. And-- and I was far too cocky for my own good. And-- and as a consequence, coming outta the campaign, I desperately wanted to have a senior job in the White House.
Frankly, I wanted to be,- I know you're a political junkie, I wanted to be Michael J. Fox's character in The American President. The young, idealistic staffer in the White House, in the Oval Office, sayin', "Mr. President, do the right thing." And that didn't happen. And, and it became clear it wasn't gonna happen because I had burned too many bridges.
CHUCK TODD:
How, how have you changed? How did it change you?
TED CRUZ:
Well, it's interesting. My wife Heidi thinks that it changed my personality in a very fundamental way. And one of the things I talk about in the book is, you know, a terrific country and western song Some of God'sGreatest Gifts are Unanswered Prayers. I'm convinced if I had gotten what I wanted, a senior position in the Bush White House, there's no universe in which I'd be in the Senate.
CHUCK TODD:
You'd f-- you'd have flamed out?
TED CRUZ:
I almost surely would've been enmeshed in many of the-- th-- the mistakes in the Bush administration where, unfortunately, as time went on, the administration didn't honor the conservative commitments that the campaign had made at the front end. But-- but number two, listen, I would've been-- if I had gotten that job, I-- I mostly assuredly b-- would've been quite impressed with myself.
And here's a simple reality. If you run a grassroots campaign-- our campaign for the Senate, we were opposed by all of the money, all of the donors, all of the establishment. It came from the people. It came from-- from young people and Hispanics and-- and Republican women. It came from hundreds of VFW halls and Dennys' and IHOPs. You can't run and win a grassroots campaign if you're an arrogant little snot. And as I discussed in the book, A Time for Truth, I needed to get my teeth kicked in.
CHUCK TODD:
So we have a new Facebook partnership with all our presidential interviews. So I promised that I would ask one of their questions. Jeff Patterson wants me to ask you this. What issue or issues that you've voted on in the Senate would it most surprise people to know that you are actually in philosophical agreement with President Obama? And what do you most admire about President Obama?
TED CRUZ:
I tell you I admire that he is a true believer. The second part of the question I can answer. You know, there are some people in the grassroots who-- who-- who view him, ascribe bad motives to him and I will often dispute that. I think he believes in all of his heart in his principles. I think he fights for them relentlessly. If I were a leftist, I would love Barack Obama because he has advanced the left wing progressive agenda more than any president in history. Now, I think the problem is the ideas he believes are profoundly dangerous. That millions of Americans have-- been hurt by exploding government regulations and taxes that have taken away jobs and opportunity. But I admire that he stands and fights for his principles.
CHUCK TODD:
Senator Cruz, I gotta leave it there. We could've gone another half hour just on foreign policy. So I hope to have you back.
TED CRUZ:
Excellent.
CHUCK TODD:
Senator Cruz, thank you, sir.
TED CRUZ:
Thank you.
CHUCK TODD:
And there's a lot more from my sit down with Ted Cruz on the Meet the Press' Facebook page as well as MeetThePressNBC.com you can see the full, unedited interview there. When we come back even Donald Trump admits he's hurting his own brand. But is he hurting the Republican Party's brand a lot more?
