(CNN) Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker suggested Wednesday that Gens. John Kelly and James Mattis, as well as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are the "people that help separate our country from chaos," a stinging criticism of President Donald Trump from a man once considered an ally in Washington.

Asked directly by a reporter whether he was referring to Trump in using the word "chaos," Corker, who announced last month he would retire in 2018 , responded: "(Mattis, Kelly and Tillerson) work very well together to make sure the policies we put forth around the world are sound and coherent. There are other people within the administration that don't. I hope they stay because they're valuable to the national security of our nation."

Stop for a second and re-read that last paragraph. The sitting Republican chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee is suggesting that if Tillerson was removed from office (or quit), the national security of the country would potentially be in danger. And he's refusing to knock down -- and thereby affirming -- the idea that Trump is an agent of chaos who pushes policies that are not always "sound" or "coherent."

That. Is. Stunning.

Corker also blasted Trump for undermining Tillerson -- most recently with a weekend tweet suggesting that the secretary of state's diplomatic work to solve the North Korea crisis would fail.