Washington (CNN) Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee compared Rowan County clerk Kim Davis' refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples to conscientious objections to slavery Sunday.

Asked if Davis, who was jailed last week for refusing to issue the licenses, should be forced to obey the Supreme Court ruling on marriage, Huckabee cited the landmark Dred Scott decision.

"You obey it if it's right," Huckabee said on ABC's "This Week." "So I go back to my question. Is slavery the law of the land? Should it have been the law of the land because Dred Scott said so? Was that a correct decision? Should the courts have been irrevocably followed on that? Should Lincoln have been put in jail? Because he ignored it."

Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks at the Point of Grace Church for the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition 2015 Spring Kick Off on April 25, 2015, in Waukee. The Republican is expected to announce May 5 he is running for president. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Huckabee was born in the same Arkansas town as former President Bill Clinton. He is an ordained Baptist minister. Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Huckabee, here at a the Iowa Ag Summit in March 2015, served two terms as governor. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Huckabee, center, visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem on February 1, 2010. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career In 2008, he debuted a weekend show for Fox News titled "Huckabee." He ended the program in early 2015. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks during the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum in Nashville, Tennessee, in April 2015. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee delivers remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park on February 10, 2012. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Huckabee is surrounded by supporters and members of the news media after talking about his new book, 'A Simple Government: Twelve Things We Really Need from Washington (and a Trillion that We Don't!),' at the National Press Club on February 24, 2011, in Washington, D.C. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Former Gov. Mike Huckabee signs a copy of his new book, 'A Simple Government: Twelve Things We Really Need from Washington (and a Trillion that We Don't!),' at the National Press Club on February 24, 2011. Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Huckabee attends a corner stone dedication ceremony for a new Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem on January 31, 2011. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Mike Huckabee speaks to guests at the Iowa Freedom Summit on January 24, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career The politician plays bass guitar with his band Capitol Offense. T Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career The band has opened for Willie Nelson and the Charlie Daniels Band and has played for two presidential inauguration balls. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Huckabee (second from right), students and others attend the May 14, 2010, NAMM Foundation Wanna Play Fund event at Fox News studios in New York. The initiative, in conjunction with the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, includes instrument donations. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Mike Huckabee's political career Huckabee visits the West Bank settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah, on August 18, 2009. He issued controversial statements in support of Israeli settlements. Hide Caption 15 of 15

Many Republican candidates have rallied around Davis since she drew national headlines for refusing issue the licenses and asked her deputies not to comply with the high court ruling. After she was arrested, the first license was issued to a gay couple.

"Do we have a check and balance system? Do we have three equal branches or do we have one supreme branch, not just the Supreme Court? That's the fundamental question," Huckabee said.

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