Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said on Thursday that Republicans are ready to compromise the rule of law to protect President Trump by releasing a GOP-crafted memo alleging what some members of the party have called "shocking" surveillance abuses at the Department of Justice.

"There used to be a time that Democrats and Republicans joined together to protect the FBI, the Department of Justice, but it looks like the Republicans are prepared to compromise our rule of law system in order to protect the president," Cardin told CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day."

"This to me is very sad and dangerous. We're talking about defending the rule of law, defending the independence of the Department of Justice. You would think that Congress would stand up for the independence of the Department of Justice," he continued.

The House Intelligence Committee voted on Monday to release the four-page memo, which was drafted by the committee's chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).

The document reportedly contains allegations of improper FBI surveillance of Trump campaign communications.

Trump will decide whether to approve or reject its release.

The president was heard reassuring Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) after his State of the Union address on Tuesday, saying the memo would "100 percent" be released.

Democrats argue that the memo contains classified information and should not be made public.