WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump suggests the response to the coronavirus may be going too far, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is urging his administration go further.

Cruz — who has emerged as one of the most vocal members of Congress on the dangers the virus poses — wants the administration to tell private manufacturers to begin making ventilators, warning the nation could soon face a shortage.

“I don't want to see doctors having to make a choice of who gets to live and who has to die because they don't have the equipment to save their lives,” Cruz said on his podcast, “Verdict.”

“You can't build a ventilator overnight,” he said. “And if we wake up two weeks from now and instead of 11,000 cases, we've got 200,000 cases or a million cases, it might be too late then.”

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

The first senator to quarantine himself earlier this month, Cruz has joined many Democrats in urging the Trump administration to invoke the Defense Production Act and force manufacturers to start making ventilators and other medical gear.

Cruz’s calls come as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made his most urgent plea to the federal government for help yet, warning that Texas is short on both testing equipment and personal protection supplies for doctors and nurses, joining governors in other states, including New York, in calling for more from the federal government.

It puts Cruz at odds with the president, who has said using the act to force production would be “nationalizing our business.”

On Monday, the president said his administration would use the act to go after people hoarding supplies — but not to compel companies to make them. And he signaled he might soon back off some of the aggressive coronavirus containment measures in an effort to save the economy.

“WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF,” Trump tweeted. “AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!”

For subscribers: Tracking coronavirus: Interactive maps, charts show spread of COVID-19 across Houston, rest of Texas

While Congress haggles over a nearly $2 trillion stimulus package to boost the economy, Cruz has called for a focus on health care: Pushing for the federal government to focus on expanding testing, producing medical supplies, bolstering hospitals and working on finding a cure for the disease that had killed nine in Texas and infected at least 777 as of Monday afternoon.

“Everyone recognizes this is a public health threat,” Cruz said on his podcast. “We need to do everything on the front end to make sure we're not forced into an impossible situation on the back end.”

Cruz on Friday wrote to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, urging him to “use the significant powers of the Defense Production Act,” a law stemming from the Korean War that allows the federal government to require private industry to make material deemed necessary for national defense.

Several Democrats have been urging the same, including Texas U.S. Reps. Colin Allred of Dallas, Veronica Escobar of El Paso, Sylvia Garcia and Al Green of Houston and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, who signed a March 13 letter calling for Trump to use the act to “begin the mass production of supplies.”

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, has also called for it, saying last week, “there is no time to waste, we need to protect Americans now.”

For subscribers: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott makes most urgent plea yet for federal help

But the administration has been hesitant to do so.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the heads of major corporations have lobbied the administration against using the act, saying it could prove counterproductive, imposing red tape on companies precisely when they need flexibility to deal with closed borders and shuttered factories.

Trump invoked the act in an executive order he issued on March 18, which directed Azar to “determine … proper nationwide priorities and allocation of all health and medical resources, including controlling the distribution of such materials (including applicable services) in the civilian market.”

But his administration has so far done little more than urge manufacturers to help out, something U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, a Republican from The Woodlands, called for, as well.

“In a time of public crisis, it falls on all of us to do our part to support the nation,” Brady wrote in a newsletter to constituents. “Right now, President Trump is calling on all manufacturers across the nation to help produce critical equipment to combat the coronavirus. We need more life-saving ventilators, respirators, and personal protective equipment for our healthcare professionals — and manufacturers in Texas can help us achieve this.”

For subscribers: Why Gov. Abbott lags behind cities and other states in coronavirus response

Brady’s office says his call to action has received “hundreds of responses” from “individuals and companies alike who want to help.”

Cruz has pushed for stronger action, saying the country needs to do more now to brace for the expected surge in cases and hospitalizations, and — like Trump and many of his colleagues — likening the efforts to contain the coronavirus to a war.

“It's how we won World War II,” Cruz said. “Remember World War II for us started with Pearl Harbor, started with a kamikaze attack, a surprise attack that took out a vast percentage of our Naval fleet. And we leaned in and rebuilt and it was the power of this economy that enabled us to win World War II. We can mobilize that same economic power.”

This post contains material from the New York Times.