Sen. Bob Menendez Robert (Bob) MenendezKasie Hunt to host lead-in show for MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Senators ask for removal of tariffs on EU food, wine, spirits: report VOA visa decision could hobble Venezuela coverage MORE (D-N.J.) played audio obtained from inside a facility used to detain migrant children separated from their families during a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday.

"They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But the audio released yesterday ... is worth a million tears. How do you submit the cries of innocent children to the congressional record? I don't know how you do that, but you can hear it," Menendez said before playing the audio.

The audio, obtained by ProPublica , includes workers trying to gather information from children as they cry out for family members. The conversations are conducted Spanish but children can be heard in the recording asking for their "papa."

"I know we don't want to hear it. But those are the cries of innocent children. I can't replicate it. I can't replicate their pain," Menendez said before trying to mimic the children in the audio recording.

"It's time that this Senate have its conscious pricked. That it moves to action. And that it challenges the president on this horrific policy," he added.

The audio comes from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement facility. It was first given to a civil rights attorney who has worked in Texas, who then gave it to ProPublica, the outlet reported.