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Story highlights Sens. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul debated foreign policy Sunday night They sat on stage for a panel hosted by the Koch brothers It was the first time potential presidential candidates shared a stage at the same time this year

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul took part in a largely friendly, but occasionally fiery, panel at the Palm Springs event sponsored by mega GOP donors David and Charles Koch, better known as the Koch Brothers.

The event, moderated by ABC's Jonathan Karl, marked the first time potential GOP contenders gathered on the same stage at the same time to talk about policy in 2015, a year that's expected to see a hoard of candidates compete for the Republican nomination in forums and debates.

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It also offered a window into the unofficial campaign that's largely playing out behind the scenes, with White House hopefuls traveling the country and meeting privately with donors in settings much like the California desert Sunday to gauge the kind of the financial commitments they could secure for a 2016 endeavor.

The first-term senators were keenly aware of their immediate audience at one point Cruz blatantly said, "I admire Charles and David Koch" but knowing their remarks would be public, they also sought to show off their command of the issues in a high-pressure scenario.

The senators revealed little disparity on domestic and economic policies, but roughly half way into the event, the discussion shifted toward President Barack Obama's new Cuba policy and Paul instantly found himself on defense.

"I'm kind of surrounded on this," Paul joked. Rubio and Cruz both have parents who emigrated from Cuba, and Paul is also the odd-man-out on substance, being the only one on stage who's backed the President's call for relaxing the Cuba embargo.

The Kentucky Republican explained that in hindsight, President Richard Nixon "made the right decision" by opening relations with China, saying it prevented war and opened up trade.

"China not a good example," Rubio disagreed, saying the country may be "more prosperous...but it is not a free country."

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Cruz-Rubio-Paul event previews GOP foreign policy debate