Story highlights Rubio called for the Pentagon to take over short term logistical authority for hurricane relief

He defended the tenor of the administration's response

Washington (CNN) Sen. Marco Rubio called Thursday for the Department of Defense to take over short term relief and recovery efforts for the hurricane-ravaged island of Puerto Rico.

"Only the DOD, in my view, has the capacity to take charge of that," the Florida Republican said in an interview on CNN's "Inside Politics."

Rubio, who visited the island Monday, said the most pressing concern for Puerto Rico was not just funneling to the island, but establishing logistics for the supply chain and recovery efforts. He said he believed the military was best positioned for such a challenge.

"The only people who can restore it, who have the capacity to do so quickly in the short term, and then turn it over to the authorities there in Puerto Rico, is the Department of Defense," Rubio said.

He said moving materials around and taking action with so many different agencies and levels of government involved could require signoff from several entities, and that the tasks were too much for the government of Puerto Rico alone to handle at this time.

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