Rubio in Iowa: Foreign policy issues should take center stage in 2016

WEST DES MOINES - Marco Rubio said during a Friday visit to Iowa that he believes foreign policy issues should be the primary focus of the 2016 presidential election.

The Republican U.S. senator from Florida and potential presidential candidate visited Iowa's capital for a book-signing event and private meetings, and pledged to return later this year - if it works in his schedule - for a foreign policy summit being planned.

And if he does opt to run for the White House, he'll become a regular in Iowa, he said.

'I think this election is increasingly one that's going to be about national security. I don't think anyone can argue that Americans are safer today or Americans are more respected today than they were (before they were) under Barack Obama,” Rubio said in an interview after the book-signing event at a suburban Barnes & Noble bookstore.

More than 100 patrons purchased books and waited in line for Rubio's signature.

Marco Marinkovich, of West Des Moines, said he has been following Rubio since 2008 and has Rubio on the short list of candidates he is considering for president in 2016.

'He's one of the true conservatives that's running. That's what's making me lean toward him,” Marinkovich said, cautioning that it is very early in the process.

Aaron Sewell, communications director for the Polk County GOP, said Rubio's personal story - his grandfather was a farmer in Cuba - could help him stand out in what, for the moment, is a crowded field of Republicans contemplating a run.

'He also has a different take on the immigration issue,” Sewell said of Rubio. 'If he were to run, how that take would play out in Iowa is still to be seen. … He could bring a really interesting look to the immigration (and) foreign policy (debate).”

Immigration came up during the book-signing event when Rubio was questioned by Alejandro Alfaro-Santiz, a Des Moines pastor and immigration reform advocate, who purchased a book and stood in line.

Alfaro-Santiz asked Rubio whether the next president should support actions taken by Obama to delay deportation of some illegal immigrants in the country, and whether Rubio still supports the immigration bill passed by the U.S. Senate in 2013 but ignored by the U.S. House.

'No, I think we need to do a legislative fix. I don't think we should be doing executive orders,” Rubio said of Obama's moves on immigration. As for the Senate immigration bill, Rubio said it no longer has the support of Congress. 'We have to do it in individual pieces.”

'We won't be able to get anything done on immigration until we first show people and prove to them that we're going to bring future illegal immigration under control,” Rubio said. 'If we do that, I think people will be very reasonable about what we're going to do about people who have been here a long time.”