Former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenSenate Republicans face tough decision on replacing Ginsburg What Senate Republicans have said about election-year Supreme Court vacancies Biden says Ginsburg successor should be picked by candidate who wins on Nov. 3 MORE said Sunday he would mobilize the military to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, calling it a “national emergency” that requires the U.S. to react as if it is a time of war.

“I would call out the military now,” Biden said at the Democratic presidential debate in Washington, D.C. “They have the ability to provide this surge that hospitals need. ... They have the capacity to build 500 hospital beds and tents that are completely safe and secure. It’s a national emergency, and I would call out the military.”

“We’re at war with the virus,” Biden added.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 Biden's fiscal program: What is the likely market impact? McConnell accuses Democrats of sowing division by 'downplaying progress' on election security MORE (I-Vt.) said he would mobilize the National Guard, as New York has done, to address the health crisis.

“We use all of the tools that make sense,” Sanders said. “And using the National Guard ... that has to be done.”