Immigration, Foreign Policy Splits Republicans In Fourth Debate

Immigration and foreign policy emerged as bright dividing lines in the fourth Republican presidential debate Tuesday, in which a shrunken stage of candidates wrangled with each other over a wide range of issues, but left front-runners Ben Carson and Donald Trump mostly unscathed.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas joined Trump in advocating a hard-line stance on immigration against Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who both warned that pledges of deportation would doom the party's chances at recapturing the White House next fall.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida tussled over what it means to be a fiscal conservative and how much of the country's treasury should be invested in the U.S. military. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina teamed with Bush against Trump and Paul in arguing for a no-fly zone over war-torn Syria. And Cruz got the better of Kasich in a quarrel over a potential financial meltdown, essentially forcing him to admit he would bail out the banks, in order to save investors, in the event of another crisis.

Carson, locked in a razor-thin battle with Trump for front-runner status in the primary, again delivered a tame but adequate performance. Given the chance, he defended his hard-knocks biography, which has come under meticulous scrutiny by media outlets over the last week.

"What I do have a problem with is being lied about and then putting that out there as truth," he said, responding to a report that he misled voters about an offer of a scholarship to West Point. "When I said I was offered a scholarship at West Point, that's the words that they used. People who know me know I'm an honest person."

Carson turned the question into an attack on Hillary Clinton -- a popular tactic employed by many candidates throughout the evening -- questioning the veracity of her version of events on the night of the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attacks.

The two-hour affair in Milwaukee did not feature a direct exchange between Bush and Rubio, a highly anticipated possibility after rising tension between the two men over the past week. It did not include a sustained line of attack against Carson or Trump, who remain atop the polls despite countless predictions that their candidacies would fade. It did not produce an overwhelming winner, either.

Yet each of the eight candidates in the primetime debate hosted by Fox Business Network and The Wall Street Journal got a chance at a substantive exchange on a leading issue of the day.

Here are the highlights of the four most memorable:

Immigration

When Trump said that the estimated 11 million people who entered the country illegally would have to leave, Kasich interjected to call that proposition a folly.

"Come on, folks. We all know you can't pick them up and ship them across, back across, the border. It's a silly argument. It is not an adult argument. It makes no sense," he said.

Bush sided with Kasich, dubbing Trump's scenario "not possible" and clearly delineating a line between the moderate and conservative wings of the party on the white-hot issue that catapulted the billionaire into first place this past summer.

"Even having this conversation sends a powerful signal -- they're doing high-fives in the Clinton campaign right now when they hear this. That's the problem with this. We have to win the presidency," Bush said. He would allow law-abiding people in the country illegally to earn legal status once they pay a fine, attain a job and learn English over an extended period of time.

But in a telling moment of the evening, Rubio skipped the opportunity to wade into the thorny immigration debate, while Cruz jumped to Trump's side of the argument.

"The Democrats are laughing," Cruz said. "Because if Republicans join Democrats as the party of amnesty, we will lose."

Defense Spending

Paul, who turned in a much-needed animated appearance, took aim at Rubio for proposing boosting defense spending by $1 trillion without outlining a way to pay for it.

When Rubio dubbed the libertarian-inclined Paul an "isolationist," Paul pummeled him for fiscal recklessness.

It's a debate that's been coming to a head in the Republican Party for some time, pitting an entrenched neoconservative establishment against a younger generation weary of global military pursuits.

Paul attempted to force the argument through a fiscal frame.

"You cannot be a conservative if you're going to keep promoting new programs you're not going to pay for," Paul charged. "Can you be a conservative and be a liberal on military spending?"

It was a fair point to raise, but perhaps not the popular one in the GOP.

Rubio ignored the question on how he would pay for increased military spending and a child tax credit and played to the hearts of an inherently hawkish party.

"We can't even have an economy if we're not safe," he said. "I know the world is a safer and better place when America is the strongest military power in the world."

The room rumbled with applause.

Russian Involvement In Syria

Bush saw a moment of opportunity when Trump said he had no problem with Russian influence in Syria, knocking "the hell out of ISIS."

"We can't continue to be the policeman of the world," Trump said, in a statement that could've easily been uttered by the anti-interventionist Paul.

But the former Florida governor compared Trump's solution allowing Russia aggression in Syria to "playing Monopoly ... not how the real world works."

"We have to lead, we have to be involved. We should have a no-fly zone in Syria," Bush said.

Fiorina then came to Bush's aid to trumpet a no-fly zone and skewer Trump and Paul in the same swipe.

"You know, Mr. Trump fancies himself a very good negotiator. And, I accept that he's done a lot of good deals, so Mr. Trump ought to know that we should not speak to people from a position of weakness. Sen. Paul should know that as well."

Paul noted that, on this issue, Bush and Fiorina shared the same position as Clinton.

"When you think it's going to be a good idea to have a no-fly zone over Iraq, realize that means you are saying we are going to shoot down Russian planes. If you're ready for that, be ready to send your sons and daughters to another war in Iraq."

Here again, Paul, with the unlikely ally of Trump, sought to rein in America's footprint around the world.

Bank Bailouts

As the second hour wound to a close, moderators peppered the candidates with the question of whether they would bail out banks in the midst of another financial crisis akin to 2008.

Presented with another question, Cruz returned to that opportunity. "Nobody gave you an answer to that. I'll give you an answer. Absolutely not."

He said he would tie the Federal Reserve to a stable level of gold and make sure it served as a lender of last resort that could be dispensed with the hook of higher interest rates.

Much like he did with Trump's deportation strategy, Kasich intervened to call Cruz's contingency plan unrealistic and risky in the event of a crisis.

Citing his executive experience, he suggested that the banks must remain solvent.

"Would you let these banks shut down?" he asked Cruz.

Cruz replied with his own politically dicey question for Kaisch: "What would you do if the bank was failing?"

"I would figure out how to separate those people who can afford it versus those people, or the hard-working folks who put those money in those institutions," Kasich attempted to explain.

It appeared Kasich was choosing the bailout, without explicitly saying so.

Boos filled the auditorium, with Cruz winning the round on a question he wasn't even directly asked. It showed his savvy as a debate performer but also his fierce allegiance to the conservative base on the issue that ignited the tea party movement his campaign is now dependent on.

David Catanese is senior politics writer for U.S. News & World Report and founder of the blog The Run 2016. You can follow him on Twitter and send him feedback at dcatanese@usnews.com.