Many Americans were wishing for “Peace on the earth, good will to men” while celebrating Christ’s birth, but Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio recently explained that Christmas had been the perfect time for him to purchase a firearm as the “last line of defense” against ISIS.

“I’m not home very often,” Rubio to CBS host John Dickerson on Sunday. “And so, those were one of the few days I was there. Second, I have a right to protect my family.”

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“And that’s why I was previously a firearm holder as well,” he continued. “This was an additional one.”

Rubio argued that as a “supporter of the Second Amendment,” he had a “right to protect my family if someone were to come after us.”

“In fact, if ISIS were to visit us or our communities at any moment, the last line of defense between ISIS and my family is the ability I have to protect my family from them or from a criminal or anyone else that seeks to do us harm. Millions of Americans feel that way.”

At a rally in Iowa over the weekend, Rubio connected his gun purchase to President Barack Obama’s recent efforts to close loopholes in the background check system.

“Because, if God forbid Isis pays a visit to you, to our community, the last thing standing between them and our families may be the ability to protect ourselves with our guns,” he told the crowd. “And there’s no way we’re going to take that away from the American people, not when I’m president.”

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Those remarks followed Rubio’s assertion at a GOP debate days earlier that President Obama would “confiscate every gun” if he could.

Watch the video below from CBS’ Face the Nation, broadcast Jan. 17, 2015.