California's homeless rate is going up as the numbers in the vast majority of states, and part of the problem is a "misguided concept" of what compassion really means, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson said Friday.

"When there are policies that say to people can you sleep here on the street, you can sleep on this bridge you can sleep in a public place, it's not really being compassionate to do that," Carson told Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "Compassion is getting that person into a situation where they can become self-sufficient."

That includes "wrap-around services" that are necessary, rather than allowing people to sleep in the streets, which makes them less likely to go to places designed to help the homeless escape their situation, Carson added.

He noted that in most states, homelessness has gone down, but in California, it's jumped by 16.4%, which has driven the national rate up by about 2.7%.

"(It's) going to require, you know deep analysis," said Carson. "We are going to have to really use our brains to fix this and not just emotion."

Carson agreed that California has been spending money on the homeless issue, without addressing its root causes.

"Some people are there because they have drug problems," he said. "Some people are there because they have mental illness problems. Some people have just fallen down on their luck."

But, he added there are mechanisms to help people come out of their situation.

"We can do this," said Carson. "It's done in other places in the world. You look at a city like Tokyo, which has more people than New York City, they have virtually no homelessness. If they can do it, we can do it, too."