Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline,” 2020 presidential hopeful and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) said he is running to challenge the dangerous actions of President Donald Trump or we risk unraveling “this democracy for the generations that follow us.”

When asked about the president giving his attorney general the authority to declassify intelligence, O’Rourke said, “Really bad idea in a long line of attacks on the most fundamental institutions that have made this country the greatest on the face of the planet. You know, we had a preview of this in 2017 when he stood on the stage in Helsinki and defended Vladimir Putin instead of this country and our intelligence community; when he accused the FBI of being a campaign arm of the Democratic party. How does that feel for those members of federal law enforcement and the intelligence community who are consistently day in, day out, putting their lives on the line for this country to keep us safe and pursue accountability, the necessary investigations and the justice that guarantees that no man, no matter what position he holds, is above the law in this country.”

He added, “So his invitation of a foreign power to infiltrate our democracy, his attorney general refusing to testify before Congress about it, and calling it spying, this is dangerous stuff for the greatest democracy the world has ever known. If we fail to confront this in a meaningful, powerful way to ensure the justice necessary, we will have set a precedent that will ruin and unravel this democracy for the generations that follow us. This is a moment that counts for more than any I can imagine. I want all of us—Republican, Democrat, independent alike, to be up to the challenge.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN