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Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul had some harsh words Wednesday for Republicans who have blamed the rise of Islamic extremism in Iraq and Syria on American disengagement with the Middle East.

In an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Paul was asked about the criticism he's received from GOP hawks like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Arizona Sen. John McCain, who have argued that America's failure to arm moderate rebel groups in the Syrian civil war created space for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to grow.

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Paul, who recently announced he is running for president, discussed immigration, criminal justice, the GOPs inclusiveness and more on Face the ...

"I would say it's exactly the opposite," Paul said. "ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS. These hawks also wanted to bomb [Syrian dictator Bashar] Assad, which would have made ISIS's job even easier."

Paul has embraced a less muscular American approach to global events, arguing the U.S. should be more reticent in committing its own resources to foreign conflicts - either by sending its U.S. troops to intervene or sending U.S. munitions to warring parties.

That belief has put Paul at odds with much of the rest of his party, and the debate is already shaping the GOP's 2016 presidential primary - Paul is running for president, and a host of prominent Republican hawks, like Graham, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have either declared a bid or signaled they plan to declare soon.

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Another prospective candidate, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, said Wednesday that Paul's comments Wednesday morning are "a perfect example of why Senator Paul is unsuited to be Commander-in-Chief."

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The Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate is thrilling his libertarian-leaning base with a campaign against the NSA and stinging criticism of his party's history of Middle East meddling. But the moves are enraging other Republicans eyeing the White House with his opponents zeroing in on Paul's comments this week that "ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party."

Rick Santorum slammed Paul's remarks as "fundamentally a misunderstanding of the nature of the enemy we face."

"I would expect to hear that from maybe Bernie Sanders," he said, referring to the liberal Democratic presidential candidate. "I don't expect to hear that from somebody running for the Republican nomination."

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who said this week that Paul is "unsuited" to be commander-in-chief, told CNN Thursday that the senator's hawks comment must be "condemned."

"This is a statement that's even to the left of what Sen. Clinton or President Obama would say," Jindal said.

Rick Perry, meanwhile, accused Paul of a "basic misunderstanding of the situation in Iraq and Syria."

Indeed, Paul is becoming the preferred punching bag of Republican presidential hopefuls. Of course, many of them are eager to attack Paul to win media attention and bolster their national security credentials. But the bashing will be a persistent challenge for Paul as he navigates the tricky challenge of galvanizing his base, dominated by isolationists, while competing in a Republican primary that remains heavily influenced by traditional foreign policy hawks.

READ: Rand Paul: Republican brand 'sucks' and is 'broken'

The Paul-hating could come to a head this weekend when the Senate convenes for a rare Sunday session in a last-ditch attempt to prevent key NSA surveillance tactics from lapsing at midnight -- something both President Barack Obama and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have sought to avoid.

Paul hasn't hesitated to deploy every procedural tool available to thwart Senate action, leaving him with no friends on the issue among GOP presidential contenders.

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Rand Paul: The GOP's punching bag - CNNPolitics.com

Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul brought his presidential campaign to Chicago on Wednesday, appealing to African-Americans on the South Side, entrepreneurs downtown and Republicans in the suburbs.

On a stage set up on a blacktop parking lot in front of an American flag mural at 66th Street and South King Drive, Paul continued a unique approach for GOP White House contenders making an appeal to African-Americans who tend to favor Democrats.

Paul opened his speech by referring to the "black lives matter" refrain used by protesters after the controversial deaths of African-American men at the hands of police. Paul said the phrase reminds him of the deaths of Eric Garner, who was choked to death by officers in New York, and Freddie Gray, who was fatally injured in police custody in Baltimore. But Paul said the phrase also has meaning in Chicago.

"When I hear people say, 'Black lives matter,' I think of Jacele Johnson, who is 4 years old and got shot this weekend just a few blocks from here," Paul said of the Englewood girl who doctors say is swiftly recovering after being shot on the left side of her head Friday night outside a family gathering. "You may be saying to yourself, 'Why is this white guy saying black lives matter, what does he know about crime in my neighborhood?' Well, I've got crime in my neighborhood too. We've got some kind of thing going on in our country, and we need to come to grips with it."

Paul then talked about a horrific 2011 case in his home state. "In my little town in Kentucky, a white woman cut a baby out of another white woman.

"There is crime going on all across America. It is not a racial thing, it is a spiritual problem," Paul said. "I think government can play a role in public safety, but I don't think government can mend a broken spirit. Government can't provide you salvation, government can't save you. Ultimately, salvation is something you accept yourselves."

A white, libertarian Republican senator from the South urging African-American voters in an impoverished, heavily Democratic neighborhood on the city's South Side to look within themselves to "find your inner grace" isn't a typical scene in a GOP presidential bid. Paul, though, isn't running a conventional campaign.

His stop in Chicago came a day after the release of his book "Taking a Stand," in which he makes the case for a new, more inclusive Republican Party, proclaiming the "Republican brand sucks."

On Wednesday, Paul sought to bring that theme to the stump.

He advocated for reclassifying nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors as part of his call to end "mass incarceration" in America.

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Rand Paul took a left turn on his journey to the Republican nomination, and now his hopes seem to be headed south.

The libertarian Kentucky senators new book, Taking a Stand, came out Tuesday, and it is chock-full of lines that would position Paul well if he were running against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.

On the environment: Youll find Im a tree hugger, literally ... Im a Republican who wants clean air, clean water, and the life-extending miracle of electricity. I compost.

On Wall Street: Only in a world of crony capitalism would bankers whose faulty decisions caused bankruptcy be allowed to cash out as the middle class absorbs the losses.

On his party: Right now, the Republican brand sucks. I promised Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, that I would stop saying the GOP sucks, and I will (except for this last time).

On racial minorities: I want a New GOP that resonates with America, that looks like America white and black. ... The face of the Republican Party should not be about suppressing the vote but about enhancing the vote.

On Ferguson, Mo.: [T]housands of peaceful protesters were met with rubber bullets, tear gas, and a police department that showed up at the protest in gear more fitting for Fallujah or Kandahar.

On drug sentencing: We should free those who are in jail under the old guidelines. Our prisons are bursting with young men and women who are poor or of color.

But Paul has a problem: He isnt running for the Democratic nomination. And though Paul may think his Republican Partys brand sucks, the primary voters dont necessarily share his view that the party is too old and too white. His candidacy has so far failed to ignite and, indeed, he seems to be fading as a force within the party.

The most recent national poll, by Fox News, has Paul in sixth place, with 7percent, trailing Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee and Marco Rubio. Paul averages only about half the support he had late in 2013. Paul doesnt appear to be winning over young voters perhaps the most important justification for his candidacy and does not do better than other Republicans, according to a survey released last month by Harvard Universitys Institute of Politics. Even in his home state, a media consortium poll this month found that Paul had lost his lead in a theoretical matchup with Clinton.

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The decline of Rand Paul - The Washington Post

Story highlights Rand Paul has christened himself a different kind of Republican: tree hugger. Paul has tried to cast himself as a fresher Republican face who can appeal to new audiences.

In a new book released on Tuesday, Paul said he composts and believes in clean air and clean water. Paul notes that he has planted giant sequoias in his yard and repurposed old trees used for a fort to build compost bins.

"None of this is at odds with wanting out government to be smaller, with wanting our regulatory bodies to protect both our land and water," Paul wrote in his third book, "Taking a Stand: Moving beyond partisan politics to unite America."

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"It boggles my mind to think that somehow Republicans have been branded as a party that doesn't like the environment," he said, pointing to avowed conservationist Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

Paul also details his history planting trees and flowers at his house in Bowling Green, Kentucky and his childhood home in Lake Jackson, Texas. Some trees he has planted in Bowling Green are now 40-feet tall, according to the candidate.

"I'm a crunchy conservative and a tree hugger and proud of it," Paul writes.

Paul has tried to cast himself as a fresher Republican face who can appeal to new audiences, such as environmentalists. Paul has stressed repeatedly that the GOP needs to win over African-Americans and Hispanics, a point he returns to in the book.

The Kentucky senator wrote that the tension he has tried to soothe between the GOP and people of color is deep and complicated, but ultimately salvageable. That is if Republicans recognize that, admit it and make this minority outreach a priority.

"My Republican Party, the Republican Party I hope to lead to the White House, is willing to change," Paul wrote in his third book,

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