Republican Senator Mike Rounds defended President Trump's decision to conceal payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign, calling it a 'personal matter' that the now-president didn't want to discuss with his family.

Rounds, a former two-term governor from South Dakota with four children of his own, said Trump loves his family and didn't want them 'to go through this.'

He spoke days after former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen furnished copies of checks that Trump signed to Cohen, who had paid $130,000 to Daniels out of his own funds weeks before the election.

Other checks were signed by Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is a top Trump Organization executive, as well as company CEO Allen Weisselberg.

'I think most of us are have a concern any time you have a president who is trying to work through some very personal matters,' Rounds told CNN on Wednesday, justifying the unusual arrangement.

Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, said Trump concealed payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in order to protect his family. 'I think he loves his family and I don't think he wanted his family to go through this,' said Rounds

'I honestly think this president loves his family and think it has as much to do with trying not to have public discussions about something that is, for him, a private matter that he didn't want to have discussed with his family. And I think that's a lot of it,' Rounds continued.

'You know, I think that every time I think about this I think about that particular issue, because I – I think he really does care about his family, I think he loves his family and I don't think he wanted his family to go through this,' said Rounds.

Interviewer John Berman referenced testimony that the payments were to influence the election. Cohen in his guilty plea signed a statement saying he was directed by 'Individual 1' to make the payments, and that they were in violation of campaign finance law, which establishes reporting requirements.

I think he really does care about his family, I think he loves his family and I don't think he wanted his family to go through this - Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

Rounds would not wade into a legal discussion of whether the payments were illegal.

'I think they'll have to take a hard look at what that is,' Rounds responded. 'Right now we talked about what are considered campaign expenses, legitimate campaign expenses. I'm not going to try to litigate that today,' he said.

Rounds defended the president after Republican members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee trained their fire on Cohen, blasting his credibility and past lies to undermine his testimony.

Cohen says the check was to reimburse him for 'hush' payments to Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors laid out the arrangement in a court document for Cohen's guilty plea

One of the most determined defenders of the president was first-term Florida Rep. Greg Steube.

Steube tore into Cohen at the hearing, and apparently discounted statements by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani that the payments to Cohen were to reimburse him for the Stormy Daniels payments.

“There’s absolutely no proof that these specific payments were for those specific purposes,” said Steube, as the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported at the time.

“There’s nothing in the evidence that shows, or the exhibits that you provided today, that show that Trump directed you to make those payments,” Steube told Cohen.

“I don’t believe there’s anybody out there that believes that I just decided to pay $130,000 dollars on his behalf,” Trump's longtime fixer countered. Steube noted Cohen was Trump's lawyer for ten years.

“That doesn’t mean that I’d pay $130,000 dollars,” Cohen responded.

The public defense of Trump comes as more documentary evidence emerges to round out what prosecutors say was a scheme to pay off Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump.

A month after taking office, Trump furnished a Valentine's Day reimbursement to his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen constituting the first payment for the 'hush' agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels, Cohen's lawyer says.

The check constitutes two months' worth of payments for what Cohen testified was reimbursement for his own $130,000 payment to Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump.

Cohen provided two checks last week to the House Oversight Committee as part of his bombshell testimony. The latest check, which lawyer Cohen lawyer Michael Monico revealed to MSNBC, was the first time Trump paid his fixer, who negotiated a non-disclosure agreement with the porn star, for the unusual arrangement.

A $75,000 check from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust was made out to Michael Cohen and dated 2/14/17

New claims: Trump - who signed an executive order creating a new taskforce on suicide among veterans Tuesday - did not sign the $70,000 check revealed by Michael Cohen's legal team

The check is from the Donald J. Trust Revocable Trust, the entity Trump set up following his election as a way to separate himself from his business empire.

Of the two checks Cohen provided last week, one was made out from Trump's personal checking account, another from the trust. According to Cohen, it was signed by the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., and Trump Organization Allen Weisselberg.

Cohen testified that at Trump's direction, he and Wiesselberg made an arrangement for reimbursement for the funds, which Cohen paid weeks before the election.

Michael Cohen and his lawyer have produced checks they say constitute the reimbursement he got from President Trump for his $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump

His lawyer Michael Monico has produced an additional check from a Trump trust to Cohen

Monaco told MSNBC's Ari Melber, 'When Michael Cohen went to see the president for the first time in the White House in February of 2017 and the president, as you may recall his testimony, that he looked at all the lovely art. And the president was proud of the whole scene and it was very awesome as Mr. Cohen said. The president said to Michael at that time, 'You will be getting the two checks soon.'

He continued: 'The two checks meaning the two $35,000 checks. Because as you may recall, Allen Weisselberg said that instead of paying the entire [money] in one lump sum, he wanted to pay it over the course of a year, $35,000 even each… month..

'And so, this check, the $70,000 check, which is signed, according to my client, signed by Allen Weisselberg and Donald Trump, Jr., that this check was the first check.'

The Donald Trump Jr.-signed check was dated in March 2017, and was drawn on a family Trust; A Trump Organization official told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Trump Jr. was unaware when he signed it that it was part of a repayment plan for Cohen's hush-money outlay

Cohen has provided members of Congress with two checks, one signed by the president and the other by his son Donald Jr, which he says was reimbursement for payments meant to keep Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal quiet; President Trump's check was written after he had been president for more than a half-year

Donald Trump Jr. signed a check dated Feb. 14th, 2017 to Michael Cohen. The following year, he took heat for a Tweet that promoted a teddy bear in a bathrobe for sale at the Trump Store

During an explosive hearing last week, Cohen produced a pair of $35,000 checks he cashed as partial reimbursement of the 'hush money' he paid to Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford.

Dated in March and August of 2017, each was made out for $35,000. One, which bears Trump's signature, comes from what Cohen said was his personal checking account. Another bears signatures that resemble those Cohen's lawyer say are Weisselberg and Donald Trump Jr.

The two men are among 81 individuals and entities that the House Judiciary hit with document requests Monday.

During Cohen's hearing, California Rep. Ro Khanna called the checks the 'smoking gun,' and asked whether they were part of a 'criminal conspiracy.'

He asked Cohen whether Trump directed his son and Weisselberg to make payments to him 'as part of a criminal conspiracy of financial fraud,' asking: 'Is that your testimony today?'

Cohen responded: 'Yes.'

Valentine's Day 2017 may have been an awkward time in the White House, with new details of the Stormy Daniels saga still emerging. First Lady Melania Trump exchanged cards that day with children at the National Institutes of Health, wearing a $2,995 Calvin Klein coat.

It wasn't clear if she had plans with Trump that day, who had lunch with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.