(CNN) Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a prominent Catholic leader in the United States, said Friday there is no biblical defense for separating families, condemning the practice as "unjust" and "un-American."

"If they want to take a baby from the arms of his mother and separate the two, that's wrong. I don't care where you're at, what time and condition, that just goes against -- you don't have to read the Bible for that. That goes against human decency. That goes against human dignity. It goes against what's most sacred in the human person," Dolan told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "Cuomo Prime Time" Friday.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that at least 2,000 children had been separated from their parents since the implementation of the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy.

Dolan suggested Attorney General Jeff Sessions incorrectly applied scripture in quoting Romans 13 to defend the policy on Thursday.

"I appreciate the fact that Attorney General Sessions refers to the Bible," he said. "The quote that he used from St. Paul might not be the best."

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