Paul Ryan defends US President Donald Trump's immigration ban

House Speaker Paul Ryan joined by Scott Tipton meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington yesterday. Photo / AP

House Speaker Paul Ryan yesterday defended US President Donald Trump's divisive executive order on refugees and immigration, arguing that while the rollout was bumpy, the policy is consistent with Republican principles.

"The president has a responsibility to the security of this country," Ryan told reporters. "What is happening is something that we support, which is, we need to pause. And we need to make sure the vetting standards are up to snuff so that we can guarantee the safety and security of our country. That is what this does."

"I think it's regrettable that there was some confusion on the rollout of this," Ryan said, adding no one wanted to see legal permanent residents caught up in the immigration ban, which initially happened before the administration clarified that they should not be.

Even though GOP congressional leadership was frozen out of the drafting of the order, Ryan told rank-and-file Republicans in a closed-door meeting before speaking to reporters that he backed the decision to stop the US refugee programme and ban all entries from seven Muslim-majority nations for 90 days.

In the aftermath, Ryan told the GOP that the "rollout was a little bumpy, been a few potholes in the road but the actual policy he agreed with," representative Phil Roe of Tennessee said.The action triggered mass confusion and chaos worldwide, split families and set off protests at airports across the country.

Ryan warned lawmakers to expect protests at their offices, Roe said, but reminded them that the policy is in line with legislation the House has strongly backed in the past.

Another lawmaker, Dennis Ross of Florida, said the speaker's message was, "'Look this shouldn't be a surprise to anybody, this is what we all campaigned on ... We're looking at eight years of a legacy that we're essentially undoing."'

Said Chris Collins of New York: "The speaker was very out in front today reminding our conference this is something we should be embracing."

Ryan's reassurances weren't enough to quiet frustration from some members.

"Basically, I think the thrust of the executive order should have been a very positive move," said Pete King. "The way it was handled though put the Republicans on defence, and also caused great inconvenience to too many people. But the political question you ask, yeah, they're losing political capital for no reason. It was a self-inflicted wound."

Top congressional leaders of Trump's party, including Ryan, were left to find out the same way the general public did: from news reports as Trump signed the order on Friday.

"I guess one of you guys probably told me about it. Thank you for that," Bob Corker, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters Monday.

Then, as lawmakers struggled to gather details for constituents about the order, at least one prominent GOP senator was told that the State Department had been instructed not to communicate with Congress.

"There's not a lot of answers as of today. In fact my staff was told the State Department as of today was ordered not to talk to Congress about this issue," said Marco Rubio of Florida. "That cannot be a permanent position, we expect answers here fairly soon."

Next followed the surprising news, first reported by Politico, that the administration's repeated claims that Hill Republicans were involved in drafting the executive order apparently referred to staffers on the House Judiciary Committee who acted without the knowledge of GOP leadership.

Each new revelation set off alarm bells on Capitol Hill where Republicans, eager to give Trump the benefit of the doubt barely a week into his presidency, are confronting repeated bouts of chaos of the administration's own making. The failure to consult with lawmakers ahead of time on the immigration executive order set the stage for high-profile Republicans to criticise the measure once it started attracting widespread controversy, and so they did, despite leadership remaining generally supportive.

And the administration's decision to make a major foreign policy move with no notice to Congress raised questions about how well the Trump White House will work with Capitol Hill to push through a massive legislative agenda that includes repealing and replacing Barack Obama's health care law, overhauling the tax code and building a border wall. Although many Republicans remained optimistic that the failures amounted to growing pains for the new administration, congressional relations under the Trump administration seemed to be off to a sour start.

"I think they understand, let me put it that way, that this was not handled in the most productive manner," Corker said. "My guess is next time they attempt to do something that is far-reaching like this there'll be a lot more communication."

US House Speaker Paul Ryan speaks to the media following the House GOP Weekly Conference Meeting on January 31, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

US House Speaker Paul Ryan has thrown his support behind President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries, calling on Republicans to defend the discriminatory policy which has drawn strong objections at home and abroad.

“The president has a responsibility to the security of this country,” Ryan told reporters on Tuesday, in his first public comments on the banning executive order. “What is happening is something that we support, we need to pause and we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff, so that we can guarantee the safety and security of this country. That is what this does."

The move comes after Trump signed the executive order on Friday, claiming that his administration was seeking to keep what he called “radical Islamic terrorists” out of the US.

Under the new measure, citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia are banned from entering the US for at least 90 days, Syrian refugees are blocked indefinitely, while other refugee admissions will also be halted for 120 days.

Most of Republicans have already criticized the Trump administration for failing to consult US Congress prior to the issuance of the new policy that has triggered chaos and uncertainty for the government.

Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned that US lawmakers might take legislative action and defy the order unless the new administration addresses its shortcomings in the coming days.

“I think they understand it was a misfire here,” Corker said. “Obviously the communication was not there. The agency process was not there. Folks here on the Hill were not aware of what was getting ready to happen. People around the world were not aware. Chaos ensued.”

Republican Senator Marco Rubio said his office had called on the US State Department to provide more clarity about the executive order but had been refused answers.

“I suppose it’s because [they’re] not clear what to tell us yet, but that cannot be a permanent position. We expect answers here fairly soon because we have constituents calling,” noted the senator (pictured above).

“I’m concerned about refugees all over the world, irrespective of the seven countries,” Rubio said. “These are very vulnerable people in very dangerous places.”

Other major Republican figures like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have also criticized the ban, creating further confusion in Washington.

Unaffected by the attacks, Trump fired the acting attorney general, Sally Yates, after she defied the rule.

Trump has come under immense pressure from politicians and rights groups to rescind the ban.