Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has at times been a thorn in the side of his Senate Republican colleagues, but on Tuesday, the former 2016 presidential candidate touted the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and said they are working together to ram through the GOP president's nominees.

"Let me actually do something I don't do a lot, which is praise Mitch McConnell," Cruz said.

"He has encouraged all of us to go out and say 'we will confirm President Trump's nominees, the Democrats will not succeed in filibustering those nominees.'

"I think that is fabulous. I agree with him and I look forward to help him lay that down."

Cruz has come around to Trump since the Republican National Convention last summer, when he told conservatives to vote their conscience, not necessarily for the party's nominee. Cruz said he spent the better part of a day meeting with Trump following the election, urging him to capitalize on the GOP-controlled Congress and push through significant reforms.

Cruz now says he "could not be more encouraged" about the direction Trump's administration is going, calling his Cabinet appointments "phenomenal."