Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt on Monday split with President Donald Trump on pulling American troops out of northern Syria.

In an emailed statement to the News-Leader, Blunt expressed concern that Trump's decision to pull out from the region would abandon American-backed Kurdish fighters who helped fight the Islamic State, leaving them vulnerable to invading Turkish forces whose leader considers the Kurds terrorists.

“The Kurds have been reliable allies," Blunt said. "Turkey, under (President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan, has not been. I am concerned about what happens in the region because of this and I hope the president will reconsider.”

Trump defended his decision in a series of tweets Monday, arguing that U.S. involvement in Syria had become a quagmire and that it was time "to bring our soldiers home."

He added, "WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN. Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out."

After enduring a barrage of criticism Monday morning, he tried to reassure allies by threatening to "totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey" if they do something he considers off limits, without saying what that would be.

But that didn't fly with a bipartisan group of senators, including Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who said in a statement that a "precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime" and "increase the risk that ISIS and other terrorist groups regroup."

He added that a veto-proof majority had voted for an amendment expressing support for a continued military presence in northeastern Syria in January and that the "conditions that produced that bipartisan vote still exist today," raising the specter of further action to block Trump's move.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who has generally supported Trump, compared the president's decision to his predecessor's withdrawal of troops from Iraq, which he blamed for the rise of the Islamic State.

"No matter what President Trump is saying about his decision," Graham tweeted, "it is EXACTLY what President Obama did in Iraq with even more disastrous consequences for our national security. Unlike President Obama, I hope President Trump will reassess and take sound military advice."

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky spoke in favor of the idea, tweeting that he stood with Trump "as he once again fulfills his promises to stop our endless wars and have a true America First foreign policy."

Paul was virtually alone, however. Rebukes also flowed from erstwhile allies outside of the Senate.

Nikki Haley, Trump's first ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted, "We must always have the backs of our allies, if we expect them to have our back. The Kurds were instrumental in our successful fight against ISIS in Syria. Leaving them to die is a big mistake."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee also said the decision amounted to betrayal of an ally.

"I generally support (Trump) on foreign policy & don't want our troops fighting other nations' wars, but a HUGE mistake to abandon Kurds," he tweeted. "They've never asked us to do THEIR fighting — just give them tools to defend themselves. They have been faithful allies. We CANNOT abandon them."

It was not clear how Missouri's other Republican senator, Josh Hawley, felt about Trump's decision.

His office did not respond to multiple requests for comment this week.

Blunt, for his part, is generally supportive of Trump. A tally by the data journalism site FiveThirtyEight had him voting with the president 93.5 percent of the time as of Monday.

But Blunt has opposed Trump on some things, like his use of an emergency declaration to fund a border wall with Mexico and embrace of tariffs in international trade policy.

In a visit to Springfield last year, Blunt called Trump's tariffs on aluminum a "big mistake."