The Muslims have, as everyone else says, the right to practice their religion and they have the right to construct a mosque at ground zero if they wish. What I am saying, though, is that they should listen to public opinion, they should listen to the deep wounds and anguish that this is causing to so many good people.

I was born in Manhattan, raised in Queens, went to high school and college in Brooklyn. My father was a city cop for over 30 years. To me, New York values are being patriotic, being strong, not panicking when there’s a crisis, and trying to help each other out.

I have been to Guantanamo. It’s a model prison. Is it ideal? No. But we live in a very un-ideal world.

As far as Iraq, the important thing is that the Taliban is gone in Afghanistan, three-quarters of the al-Qaida leadership is either dead or in jail, and we now have Saudi Arabia working with us, Pakistan working with us.

I’m saying this as a Republican: In the White House, the effort that goes in and wherever these decisions are made, as to limit civilian casualties, is more probably than any in the history of the world, especially when you consider the history of warfare.

I think I’m one of the people who brought about peace in Ireland.

I think there has been a lack of full cooperation from too many people in the Muslim community.

And I think people who sort of glibly say, ‘Well, you know, they’re not going to handle security, UAE is a great ally,’ four and a half years ago, they were not an ally, they were working with the enemy, and if those same people are still there today that were there then, these are real serious issues.

In the real world in which we live, it’s a dangerous world. And you know the old saying is that we have to be right 100 percent of the time; the terrorists only have to be right once.

I do think we need more cameras. We have to stay ahead of the terrorists, and I do know in New York, the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, which is based on cameras, the outstanding work that results from that.

Again, we saw in Bosnia – we had U.N. peacekeepers tied to trees, being taken hostage. The fact is they don’t have the type of deliberate and authoritative rule that I think is needed to get the job done.

The Democrats in the Senate adopted a resolution, an amendment, saying that there should be no Guantanamo detainees brought into this country. So, more and more, we’re finding the American people on one side, the ACLU and the troglodytes from the New York Times on the other, where they belong.

White House leaks of classified information put the lives of U.S. service members, intelligence officers, and civilians at risk. That’s why I support a measure passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee to crack down on such leaks.

WikiLeaks presents a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States.

Any New Yorker who even thinks of voting for Ted Cruz should have their head examined, Really, here‘s a guy who refused to sign onto the 9/11 health care act for the cops and firemen. Here’s a guy who talks about New York values.

I mean, I really don’t want the federal government to be determining whether or not a person who feels certain ways about the environment or about animals or about certain religious issues should be considered an extremist. That to me is a type of thought control, mind control, which is very dangerous.

But 85 percent of the mosques have extremist leadership in this country. Most Muslims, the overwhelming majority of Muslims, are loyal Americans.

Now, we don’t get that many specific threats against sporting events, per se. But we know from listening to the chatter how terrorists want to attack iconic events. So whether it’s a major Fourth of July celebration or the Super Bowl or the World Series, we assume that that is what they’re targeting.

I don’t know anyone at the highest levels who approved Abu Ghraib. If President Barack Obama for a moment thought that somebody at a high level had approved it, he would go after them.

The president has a right to discuss his national security policies with the public. But that should be done in the light of day without endangering our sources or methods. The public has no need to know details about intelligence assets or special operations units. Such disclosures endanger those who protect us.

To me, we never get enough funding. In New York, we are clearly the number one terrorist target in the country.

The president’s dream of a worldwide liberal utopia is going to undermine the security of the United States.

Being out in the street is not an expectation of privacy. Anyone can look at you, can see you, can watch what you’re doing.

The whole idea of a nuclear system is to have a deterrent where we decide if we’re going to use it.

I think if we’re going to live in this – in this world – in this technological world where information can be disseminated so quickly, we have to be serious and take firm, strong action against those who are putting American lives at risk. Because this will put people’s lives at risk.

We can’t gather the intelligence we need to foil future attacks, if we are blindly granting terrorists the right to remain silent. But for some reason, we’ve already done that – with the terrorist who tried to bring down Flight 253.

The party has to be rebuilt on all levels. In a way, maybe it’s to be expected when you’ve had a governor in office for 12 years and he and his people are stepping down.

We went into Iraq because Saddam Hussein refused to account for his weapons of mass destruction, consistently violated UN resolutions and in a post-9/11 world no American president could afford to give Saddam Hussein the benefit of the doubt.

The United States has already experienced the danger of flawed refugee vetting as well as the potential for refugees to be radicalized once they are here. In 2011, two Iraqi refugees were arrested in Kentucky for conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals abroad in support of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the predecessor to ISIL.

Beyonce may be a gifted entertainer, but no one should really care what she thinks about any serious issue confronting our nation.