Paul: Cruz eligibility may reach SCOTUS

Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday pressed questions about GOP presidential rival Ted Cruz’s eligibility to be president, saying he believes that the issue will have to be resolved by the Supreme Court if Cruz gets elected president.

“The thing is, all experts agree that he was naturally born in Canada,” Paul said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And so the question is — can you be naturally born in Canada and also be considered to be a natural born citizen? It hasn’t been decided.”

{mosads}“[The Founding Fathers] used this unusual language in the Constitution of ‘natural born’, and so I think it will be brought up,” the Kentucky Republican continued. “Congressman [Alan] Grayson from Florida is already saying he’s going to challenge it in court. I think the Democrats will challenge it at the very least and I think it will have to be decided by the Supreme Court.”

Cruz, the GOP front-runner in Iowa, was born in Canada to an American mother and Cuban father.

The Constitution says the president must be a “natural born citizen,” which many interpret to include those born abroad to an American parent.

But Paul on Sunday said Cruz’s birthplace is something that voters should consider in weighing Cruz’s presidential bid.

“I think it will be extraordinary that if he were to be the president, he would be the first president not born in the United States,” Paul said. “So that alone would be extraordinary, so people will have to decide in their own minds whether that makes a difference.”

Cruz on Sunday made the case for his eligibility.

“The substance of the issue is clear and straight forward,” Cruz said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “As a legal matter, the Constitution and federal law are clear that the child of a U.S. citizen is a natural born citizen.”