Sen. Joe Manchin speaks during a Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign stop in Charleston, W.Va., Tuesday, May 3. | AP Photo Manchin: Due process is 'killing us right now' in gun debate

The main sticking point to resolving congressional disputes over gun control is balancing the constitutional right to due process with the urgency to prevent future terrorist shootings like the one that claimed the lives of 49 people, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Thursday.

"The problem we have, and really the firewall we have right now is due process. It's all due process," Manchin said during a discussion on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "So we can all say we want the same thing, but how do we get there?"


Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn's (R-Texas) proposal would allow the attorney general to delay the purchase of a gun for up to three days, while Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has introduced legislation that would require the attorney general to submit terror watch lists to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as a check on power.

"If a person is on the terrorist watch list like the gentleman, the shooter in Orlando, twice by the FBI, we were briefed yesterday about what happened but that man was brought in twice. They did everything they could," Manchin said. "The FBI did everything they were supposed to do but there was no way to keep him on the nix list or keep him off the gun buy list. There was no way to do that. So can’t we say that if a person under suspicion, there should be a five-year period of time that we have to see if good behavior, if this person continues the same traits, maybe we could come to that type of an agreement. But due process is what's killing us right now."

The National Rifle Association responded to Manchin's comments later Thursday.

"No one believes terrorists should have guns. But we can fight terrorism and protect law-abiding Americans' [Fifth Amendment] rights," the group tweeted on its official account.

Senate Democrats, led by Chris Murphy of Connecticut, filibustered for nearly 15 hours until early Thursday morning to urge a vote on two separate proposals, one to ensure that people on watch lists are not able to obtain guns and another mandating background checks for purchases on the Internet and at gun shows.