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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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Iraqi forces say they've surrounded three sides of the city after launching a new offensive against ISIS. It took the militants only a few hours ...

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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Rand Paul: "ISIS exists...because of hawks" in the GOP ...