Florida Senator Marco Rubio and his wife Jeanette took a break from the presidential campaign trail to talk with TODAY's Natalie Morales in an exclusive interview about the Syrian refugee crisis, airstrikes against ISIS and his biggest critics.
Morales started by asking Rubio how his plan to defeat ISIS differs from President Obama's.
"Well, first, if you speak to our allies in the region, there is no feeling that Barack Obama is trying to put together a coalition — that sense of urgency. The feeling is that we're taking airstrikes, but they seem to be cosmetic, not well-targeted, not well-coordinated on the ground."
Asked if he'd declare war on ISIS right now, Rubio responded, "We are most definitely at war with ISIS and I'd be supportive of declaring that, whether it's formally through Congress or rhetorically."
MORE: Marco Rubio: Hispanics 'deeply impacted' by illegal immigration
The battle against ISIS has also led to a backlash against refugees from the region seeking to resettle in the United States.
"I'm only against allowing in refugees whom we can't vet," he said. "If we can't vet you, we can't allow you in. Because this is a situation where if you even get one person wrong — you can allow 10,000 people in and if 9,999 of them are good people, but one of them is an ISIS fighter — you have a problem."
MORE: Marco Rubio: 'I still have tremendous admiration' for Jeb Bush after GOP debate
But Rubio's biggest critics aren't on the campaign trail — they're in his home.
"My 15-year-old is more about encouraging me," he told Morales. "And my 13-year-old is a little bit harder [of a] critic. She comes up to me sometimes and reveals to me headlines that I hadn't even read yet. You know, 'Oh, Dad, did you hear this?'"
MORE: Kind candidates? The presidential candidate you'd most want to have a drink with is...