A handful of Texas Republicans in Congress admonished President Donald Trump for a series of Sunday tweets in which he told four Democratic congresswomen of color — three born in the U.S. and all American citizens — to “go back” to the countries they came from, even as Trump doubled down on his comments Monday.

“POTUS was wrong to say any American citizen, whether in Congress or not, has any ‘home’ besides the U.S.,” U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, who lives just outside Austin in Hays County, said in a tweet Sunday night.

Republican U.S. Reps. Will Hurd of Helotes, a longtime thorn in the president's side on border security issues, and Pete Olson of Sugar Land, who has been more hesitant to criticize the president, delivered stronger rebukes.

In an interview Monday on CNN, Hurd called the tweets "racist," "xenophobic" and "unbecoming of the leader of the free world." On Twitter, Olson called on Trump to "immediately disavow his comments" and added that the tweets were "not reflective of the values of the 1,000,000+ people in Texas (District) 22."

Their comments were notable because most Republicans remained silent on the topic, even as Democrats, including the objects of Trump's ire, spoke forcefully against him.

At a news conference late Monday afternoon, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., blasted Trump's "blatantly racist attack on four duly elected members" and called for his impeachment.

"This is the agenda of white nationalists," said Omar, who was born in Somalia and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, "whether it is happening in chat rooms or it is happening on national TV, and now it's reached the White House garden."

She was joined by Democratic U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, the targets of Trump's tweets over two days.

Ocasio-Cortez said that Trump "does not know how to defend his policies, so what he does is attack us personally, and that is what this is all about." She added that "no matter what the president says," the country "belongs to everyone."

“I encourage the American people, and all of us in this room and beyond, to not take the bait,” Pressley said. “This is simply a disruption and a distraction from the callous, chaotic and corrupt culture of this administration.”

During the news conference, Trump continued the showdown with the congresswomen, tweeting, "The Dems were trying to distance themselves from the four 'progressives,' but now they are forced to embrace them. That means they are endorsing Socialism, hate of Israel and the USA! Not good for the Democrats!"

At an earlier appearance at the White House, Trump said that "a lot of people love" what he tweeted Sunday. "If you're not happy in the U.S., if you're complaining all the time, you can leave; you can leave right now," Trump said.

That followed several Monday morning tweets in which Trump, reacting to calls for an apology, attempted to turn the tables on the Democrats.

"When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said. So many people are angry at them & their horrible & disgusting actions!" read one tweet. Roy, a freshman who is a former aide to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and hasn't been shy about criticizing both Democrats and Republicans, retweeted that Trump tweet, seemingly in an attempt to hedge his criticism of the president.

Like Roy, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of the president, walked a fine line between criticizing the president and commiserating with him.

Graham advised Trump to “aim higher” in an interview on “Fox and Friends,” even as he added, "We all know that AOC and this crowd are a bunch of communists. They hate Israel. They hate our own country.”

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told a Politico reporter Monday afternoon that the tweets were a "mistake" and "an unforced error" but did not elaborate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Monday that the House would hold a vote on a resolution condemning Trump’s comments. The Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, said Democrats will force a vote in the Senate.

Additional material from The Associated Press and The New York Times.