Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says that Republican candidates should have rebuked members of the audience that booed a gay service member during Fox News' September presidential debate but it is sometimes "hard to react" while on stage.

"The fact is that we should honor every man and woman who is serving in the military and in no way should treat them with anything but the highest regard," McCain, who opposed the repeal of the military's gay ban, told CBS' Bob Schieffer Sunday.

"Do you think that the Republican candidate should have spoken up at that debate about that?" Schieffer asked.

"Yeah, I do," McCain replied. "But a lot of times when you are in a debate, you're thinking about what you're going to say and what the question is going to be. It's hard to react sometimes, but I'm sure that -- I would bet that every Republican on that stage did not agree with that kind of behavior."

The Arizona senator added that President Barack Obama had a point during his speech to the Human Rights Campaign Saturday.

"You want to be commander in chief?" Obama had declared. "You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States even when it's not political convenient."

Audiences at recent Republican presidential debates have also called for letting an uninsured man die and have cheered Texas' record of 234 executions under Gov. Rick Perry (R).