Well, at least Tea Party Rep. & newly elected Senator Tom Cotton (R. AR) at least stands by his campaign rhetoric:

Sen.-elect Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) this morning went on "Meet the Press," where he mainly talked about his stance on immigration, an issue that the soon-to-be Republican Senate is sure to discuss in great detail following President Obama's recent executive action.

Host Chuck Todd played a clip of a controversial statement Rep. Cotton had made on the campaign trail connecting the immigration debate to the growth of the Islamic State.

Groups like the Islamic State collaborate with drug cartels in Mexico who have clearly shown they’re willing to expand outside the drug trade into human trafficking and potentially even terrorism. They could infiltrate our defenseless border and attack us right here in places like Arkansas.

Cotton did not step away from his remarks when asked if that was just campaign rhetoric. "As long as our border is open and it's defenseless," he said, "it's not just an immigration issue — it's a national security issue."

He added that "we know that these drug cartels in Mexico are focused primary on power and profit," and will do anything to gain these things. Cotton, who served in Iraq, repeatedly attacked Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) on national security issues in the 2014 Arkansas Senate race. According to several Associated Press-GfK polls during the election, likely voters were overwhelmingly worried about terrorism and the Islamic State as Election Day drew near.

Todd responded, "Some would argue that's fearmongering."