President Trump's new immigration reform plan was wrongly criticized by Democrats, who in turn need to decide whether to be more serious about what's best for the American people and the nation's economy in that regard.

Rep. Matt Gaetz made those claims in a Thursday interview, in which he added that the Democrats' reaction draws a stark "contrast" between the parties ahead of the key 2020 elections.

Gaetz, R-Fla., blasted Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who said that the proposal is "despicable demagoguery designed simply to appeal to Donald Trump's base."

"I don't know what's political demagoguery about saying 'do you want people here on merit or not'? Do you want people that come that speak English or not? Do you want frivolous asylum claims sent immediately back to their home country or not?" Gaetz said on "The Story."

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"I think most American people would want an asylum system that works," he said, adding that the current "catch-and-release" program must be changed.

"The Democrats are against the 'catch,' [Republicans] are against the 'release'," Gaetz said. "With the president's new plan, we have a framework that really shows the contrasts between the parties heading into the next election."

Gaetz also criticized Democrats writ large for failing to work toward securing the border.

"[Speaker] Nancy Pelosi has not put a single border security bill on the floor for us to vote 'for' or 'against'," Gaetz charged.

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"If you want to become an American citizen, it will be clear exactly what standard we ask you to achieve. It will be made crystal clear. Americans can have complete and total confidence that under this plan the borders will finally be fully and totally secured," Trump said of the proposal in remarks Thursday.