WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to discuss the Obama Administration’s plans to accept 10,000 thoroughly vetted refugees from Syria in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut, and elsewhere.

On accepting Syrian refugees:

Senator Coons: “We need to do our homework and have a responsible, bipartisan conversation about what is the refugee screening policy, what are the weaknesses or threats that we now need to assess in light of this Paris attack, and what more should we be doing to fund and support the Department of Homeland Security so it can keep us safer and so it can make sure – as the federal agency principally responsible for making sure that those who come to this country are appropriately vetted – that we’ve dealt with any new threats.

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Joe Scarborough: “Is the vetting process good enough to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees as the President wants over the next year?”

Senator Coons: “We have a thorough and detailed vetting process, and actually later today there’s going to be a bipartisan classified briefing for the Senate so we all are working from the same common set of facts.”

Joe Scarborough: “Should we continue with the President’s plan to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year?”

Senator Coons: “We should be working first to make sure that the vetting process is thorough and secure as we are told it is.  We should reassure ourselves that it actually is as secure as we understand it to be, and we should move forward to continue accepting refugees that have been thoroughly vetted and pose no risk to the United States.”

On debating an Authorization for the Use of Military Force against ISIS:

Senator Coons: “We have been at war against ISIS since August of last year when we began running military actions – taking air strikes against ISIS, first in Iraq, then in Syria – remember the Yazidis who fled up Sinjar Mountain. The President sent an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) up to Congress in February of this year, and we haven’t taken it up, we haven’t debated it, and we haven’t authorized it” 

Joe Scarborough: “Should we?” 

Senator Coons: “We should. I think that’s our constitutional responsibility.  It’s difficult for us to come to consensus around our policy and our strategy, but we should.  Second, we need to do our homework and have a responsible, bipartisan conversation about what is the refugee screening policy, what are the weaknesses or threats that we now need to assess in light of this Paris attack, and what more should we be doing to fund and support the Department of Homeland Security so it can keep us safer and so it can make sure – as the federal agency principally responsible for making sure that those who come to this country are appropriately vetted – that we’ve dealt with any new threats.”