Sen. Tom Cotton Tom Bryant CottonLoeffler calls for hearing in wake of Netflix's 'Cuties' Health care in the crosshairs with new Trump Supreme Court list Cruz says he wouldn't accept Supreme Court nomination MORE (R-Ark.) is leaving the door open to military action in Syria after Syrian President Bashar Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons.

“I think we have to be prepared to keep all options on the table, whether it’s military action or whether it’s classified covert activities as well,” Cotton said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

The Trump administration should not let the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) distract it from the danger Assad poses, Cotton said.

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“ISIS may be our more immediate threat in Syria. But we cannot be safe as long as the Assad-Iran-Russia axis is in charge in Syria," he said.

“Bashar al-Assad must ultimately go. It may not be tomorrow; it may not be next week.”

Activists and eyewitnesses alleged Tuesday that Assad’s government carried out a chemical weapons attack, killing at least 70 civilians.

The White House said Tuesday that the incident is a “consequence” of former President Obama’s approach to the Syrian civil war.

“Today’s chemical attack in Syria against innocent people, including women and children, is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world,” he said in a statement.

“These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution.”

President Trump did not specify how the U.S. would deal with the attack, which is considered the worst chemical weapons strike in Syria in years.

Tuesday’s attack was carried out in a rebel-held area of Syria’s Idlib province and sparked global condemnation for killing and injuring women and children.

Obama threatened U.S. military intervention in Syria in August 2012 if his administration saw moves involving biological and chemical weapons there.

“We cannot have a situation in which chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people,” Obama said. “We have been very clear to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of weapons being moved around or utilized.”

Trump said Wednesday the chemical attack in Syria had “a big impact on him,” adding Assad “crossed a lot of lines."