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Lynchburg (United States) (AFP) - Ultra-conservative Republican US Senator Ted Cruz launched his White House quest on Monday, invoking his abiding faith in God as he effectively kick-started the 2016 presidential race.

The 44-year-old Tea Party favorite from Texas chose Liberty University, the sprawling Christian evangelical bastion founded by Reverend Jerry Falwell, as the site of the official unveiling of his White House ambitions.

Cruz is the first candidate to formally join what will be a crowded Republican field vying to be their party's champion in the marathon slog to succeed President Barack Obama.

"It is a time for truth, it is a time for liberty. It is a time to reclaim the constitution," Cruz told several thousand students at the Virginia campus.

"I believe God isn't done with America," Cruz said.

"I believe in you. I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America. And that's why today I am announcing that I am running for president of the United States."

- Fierce critic -

Cruz has been a political rock star since he scored a major upset and won a US Senate seat in 2012.

Seen as a provocateur by rivals -- and an intense conservative ideologue even by his supporters -- Cruz is a fierce critic of Obama's administration.

Hitting several conservative buttons, Cruz pilloried Obama's health care law, vowed to abolish the IRS federal tax agency, and slammed the Democratic president's bid to shield millions of immigrants from deportation, calling it an "unconstitutional executive amnesty."

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Republican Ted Cruz launches 2016 race with White House bid