Updated at 3:50 p.m. with new Justice Department policy excluding domestic abuse as a basis for asylum claims.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Ted Cruz defended the Trump administration's policy of separating parents from children when they're caught crossing the border illegally, saying that while such cases can be tragic, it's "inevitable" when people violate U.S. law.

"There's actually a court order that prevents keeping the kids with the parents when you put the parents in jail. So when you see reporters, when you see Democrats saying don't separate kids from their parents, what they're really saying is don't arrest illegal aliens," Cruz told KERA, the Dallas public radio station, in an interview that aired Monday afternoon.

Cruz's comments come as Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued an order barring claims that a migrant is fleeing domestic abuse or gang violence as the basis for an asylum claim -- a shift in U.S. policy that prompted a fresh uproar and allegations of cruelty by the Trump administration.

The "zero tolerance" policy that has led to family separations has been controversial since Sessions announced it last month. Thousands of families have been affected, with condemnation pouring in from south of the border and across the world, and from Democrats.

The issue represents one of the sharpest points of contrast between Cruz and his Democratic opponent, who has made clear his disapproval.

"You are either for separating children from their parents or you are against it. I am against it," Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso posted four weeks ago on Facebook. On Monday afternoon he tweeted that "we are better than this."

Enough is enough. We are the wealthiest, most powerful nation. Now taking kids from their parents and turning our back to asylum seekers. This requires immediate action. I'm going to the border to get answers and confront this head on. I know that we are better than this. — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) June 11, 2018

Critics have accused the Trump administration of cruelty in separating children from parents, for a crime that rises only to a misdemeanor under federal law. The separations take place before conviction, and regardless of whether the migrants claim asylum or come north seeking work.

Sessions promoted the strategy as a way to deter illegal immigration, although the Homeland Security Department has taken a contradictory stance, insisting that the policy was not about deterrence.

"If people don't want to be separated from their children, they should not bring them with them," Sessions said last week. "We've got to get this message out. You're not given immunity."

President Donald Trump has sought to shift blame for family separations onto Democrats, citing laws enacted before he took office and insisting that he had no choice but to enforce those laws.

Put pressure on the Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there parents once they cross the Border into the U.S. Catch and Release, Lottery and Chain must also go with it and we MUST continue building the WALL! DEMOCRATS ARE PROTECTING MS-13 THUGS. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2018

Cruz acknowledged that Trump is responsible for a new approach.

"There is a reason why under the Obama administration that often didn't happen, because when they apprehended people here illegally, they just let them go. And when you let them go you didn't separate children from parents," Cruz said. "There's no doubt that illegal immigration causes human tragedies and many of those tragedies are visited on kids."

On Monday, the Justice Department issued an order signed by Sessions rejecting the idea that fleeing an abusive spouse, or trying to escape from gang violence, provides the legal basis for an asylum claim.

"The asylum statute does not provide redress for all misfortune," Sessions wrote in a ruling overturning immigration judges. "It applies when persecution arises on account of membership in a protected group and the victim may not find protection except by taking refuge in another country."

The narrowing of asylum policy angered immigrant advocates and Democrats.

"The Trump administration's inhumanity and heartlessness know no bounds," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The American Immigration Council, which works with detainees in Texas who fled criminal gangs and abusive partners, invoked the history of the United States opening its doors to people fleeing oppression and persecution.

"Turning our backs on victims of violence and deporting them to grave danger should not be the legacy sought by any administration," said executive director Beth Werlin.

More than 30 Democratic senators filed a bill last week titled the Keep Families Together Act to halt the policy.

"Many of these families are fleeing terrible violence, traveling thousands of miles on foot for the chance to file an asylum claim and save their lives," Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said last week. "To traumatize them further is unconscionable."

1 / 2Demonstrators protest Trump administration policy that enables federal agents to separate undocumented migrant children from their parents at the border on June 5, 2018 in Chicago. The tough stance on immigration issues has been seen as popular with much of his base support. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)(Scott Olson / Getty Images) 2 / 2Hundreds of immigrant rights advocates and others demonstrated at the Federal Building in lower Manhattan against the Trump administration's policy that enables federal agents to take migrant children away from their parents at the border on June 1, 2018 In coordinated marches across the country people gathered outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field offices, U.S. attorney's offices, and the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington to pressure the administration over the family separation policy at the border. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)(Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

Last week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, based in Geneva, condemned the practice as a violation of the migrants' rights and international law. Trump aides rejected the criticism, and Cruz indicated he supports the policy.

"Let's say an American citizen gets arrested for a crime - for murder, for burglary, for whatever - you're separated from your children. You're put in prison. ... That is the inevitable consequence of somebody being arrested for a crime," he said, adding, "This is an issue that I think the media has largely constructed because what's shifted is that the Trump administration is endeavoring when people cross illegally, to arrest them, not to let them go."

On Saturday, The Washington Post reported on the death of Marco Antonio Muñoz, a Honduran father who committed suicide in jail after being separated from his wife and child when they crossed the border at McAllen.

KERA interviewed Cruz last week, before the death was reported.

"Trump, Sessions and [Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen] Nielsen have blood on their hands," said Frank Sherry, executive director of America's Voice Education Fund, on Monday. "This is their crackdown. They can dial it back whenever they choose. But they won't, because they believe in their divisive and dehumanizing strategy and they believe it will help them hang onto power. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress stay silent, and the death toll mounts."