U.S. Senator Doug Jones said Monday that he felt it was "highly inappropriate" for President Donald Trump to link the FBI's missteps ahead of Wednesday's massacre at a Florida school to the ongoing Russia probe.

"It had nothing to do with the Russian investigation," Jones said while speaking to the media at Bishop State Community College in Mobile, during the first stop of a five-day tour across the state.

"Clearly, in this case, it was the local FBI and I emphasize that ... those were local folks (in Florida mishandling the investigation)," Jones, a Democrat, said. "I thought it was highly inappropriate for the president to blame the FBI and to say they were too focused on the Russia probe."

His comments come after lawmakers of both parties have criticized Trump's statements, made in a tweet Saturday night, in which he criticized the Federal Bureau of Investigations for missing warning signs involving Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who is charged with killing 17 people Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Trump, in his Twitter post, suggested the FBI is "spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion."

Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018

Trump's tweet came after Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russians and three Russian companies on Friday with conspiracy to tamper in the 2016 presidential election. The indictment did not link the Trump campaign with any coordinated effort to work with Russians. The probe is ongoing.

The FBI, also on Friday, acknowledged it failed to investigate a recent warning that Cruz possessed a gun and had a desire to kill. The acknowledgement led to Florida Gov. Rick Scott to call for the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Jones, like other lawmakers, said the FBI "clearly made a mistake." But he said that the mistake shouldn't be considered an "indictment of the entire FBI by any stretch of the imagination."

"I do think they dropped the ball and some people do have to be called to the carpet," said Jones, a former U.S. Attorney. "As a former prosecutor and a lawyer who looked at these issues, there is not room for error these days."

He added, "To some extent, we are on a learning curve with mental illness and what to be on the lookout for. But clearly, more should have been done and there were warning signs."

Jones's comments came on the same day that U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, also criticized the FBI for bobbling the warning signs ahead of the Parkland massacre. He said that immediate "oversight" of the FBI should be the government's focus.

Byrne, who is weighing a potential run against Jones in the 2020 Senate election, did not address Trump's Russia angle during a stop in Mobile earlier Monday. He said the FBI's mishandling of a tip could be a disincentive for potential tipsters in the future.

Byrne said the government needs to do better with regard to "not just providing mental health services" but to "make sure we're sharing information" about people with mental illness.