Rand Paul, who argued with Marco Rubio during Tuesday night's GOP debate about Rubio's call to increase military spending, said Wednesday that he is for a strong national defense, but "not for bankrupting the country in the process.""I think it's one of the most important discussions we can have," the Kentucky Republican senator told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" host Martha MacCallum. "We just raised the debt ceiling because of people on one side like Marco, who want more military spending and people on the left, like [New York Sen.] Chuck Schumer, who want more entitlement spending."But the more spending rises, the more the country is "mired in debt," he continued. "I don't think we are a stronger nation the further mired in debt we are."Paul said he agrees that the United States can't just stand back when it comes to threats from ISIS, China, Russia, and more, but that doesn't mean the amount spent on the military should be so high."We spend more on the military than the next 10 countries combined," said Paul. "You add Russia and China together and eight more countries, then you add up to what we spend."Meanwhile, Paul said he spent a great amount of time counteracting the impression that people have of him that he is an isolationist."I would have voted to go to Afghanistan," he said. "I'm also involved in being engaged diplomatically. But it doesn't mean I'm in love with most of the intervention in the Middle East, and I consistently said toppling dictators has led to the rise of radical Islam."Paul also spoke of the debate itself, saying he was happy the participants each got almost equal time for speaking, but isn't making predictions on the polls, because they "mean absolutely nothing.'"This race is wide open and we shouldn't use the polls to discount anyone," he said. "I think we ought to report on the campaigns and see what happens."