Colorado’s House Republican leader on Tuesday defended President Trump’s temporary refugee and select immigration bans, saying the orders are a prudent move to understand threats facing the nation.

The remarks from Rep. Patrick Neville of Castle Rock came during a resolution by Democrats that encourages President Trump to rescind last Friday’s presidential directives, which temporarily suspended immigration to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries and offered a sweeping prohibition of refugees entering the country.

The Colorado resolution, sponsored in the House by Reps. Chris Hansen of Denver and Dafna Michaelson Jenet of Commerce City, calls on Congress to act if the president doesn’t backtrack on the sweeping orders.

But Neville urged patience.

“I don’t think there is any disagreement that we are a nation of immigrants. This is simply a temporary halt in some of the most dangerous areas. That’s all the executive order is,” Neville said.

He went on to draw upon his experiences as a soldier in Iraq, suggesting that his life “depended on my Muslim friends,” but was also “threatened by Muslim enemies.”

Neville added that the list of seven nations identified by Trump – including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – were identified as hostile by President Obama’s administration in an effort to combat terrorism.

Trump last week suspended immigration to the United States from the seven countries for 90 days. The president also suspended all refugee admission for 120 days.

“If President Trump intended to ban Muslims from our country this past weekend, it was a laughable effort,” Neville continued. “Something like 87 percent of the world’s Muslims continue to be able to seek visas to visit our country.”

The Republican leader went on to question why the legislature was tackling a federal issue like immigration, when the state has no authority over such policy.

“One could wonder why this House is spending time talking about something that we have absolutely no power to change, when I imagine most Coloradans want us to tackle problems that are our responsibility,” Neville said, pointing to issues such as education, transportation, housing and health care.

Neville also stated that most Americans support taking the time to develop policies that aim at protecting American lives, despite nationwide protests and bipartisan opposition to Trump’s directives.

A new Rasmussen Reports survey released Monday found that most voters approve of Trump’s directives until the government can do a better job of keeping out terrorists.

The poll found that 57 percent of likely voters favor a temporary ban on refugees from the seven Muslim-majority nations, while 33 percent are opposed. Another 10 percent are undecided.

Similarly, 56 percent favor a temporary block on visas prohibiting immigration from the seven Muslim-majority countries to the United States, while 32 percent oppose the ban, and 11 percent are undecided.

The survey was taken late last week prior to the weekend protests against Trump’s orders imposing the temporary ban on all refugees and the temporary visa ban on visitors from the seven countries.

Colorado Senate Republicans tend to agree with Neville, arguing that the issue does not fall on the state to solve.

“Hearing from constituents who are on both sides of that debate … we don’t have control over federal immigration law here at the Capitol. We are leaders in our state but we’re also constituents  and citizens of the country, and just watching what the president and federal government do,” said Senate Republican Leader Chris Holbert of Parker.

“He (Trump) is worried about the public safety of our country,” added Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling. “With that said, our job here is to deal with those Colorado issues, and we’re going to deal with Colorado issues that don’t have anything to do with what he is doing nationally on immigration.”

Retired Army. Lt. Gen. Ed Anderson said while Trump’s immigration policies may need some massaging, the president is headed in the right direction.

“Personally, I think if you don’t take some sort of action early, you can see what happens,” Anderson said, referring to European terror attacks. “I don’t think the process we have had in place is adequate or properly enforced. I think this is a smart move.”

Anderson was the No. 2 general at U.S. Northern Command, which is charged with defending America from terror attacks. He said allowing would-be terrorists onto American soil gives them the ability to hide from authorities, making them tougher to defeat.

“It’s important and its something that certainly needs to be addressed,” he said. “I’m confident that is being addressed in a way that would be satisfactory.”

Anderson does have some concerns that former allies and workers for U.S. forces in Iraq, including interpreters, could be denied entry under Trump’s policy. But he said that can be fixed.

“It is a huge task but you have to start somewhere and we should have started a long time ago.”

Democrats, however, say the orders serve as a divisive tool. In the resolution pushed by Democrats on Tuesday, Trump’s critics highlighted how America is a nation of immigrants, with a long history of serving displaced people.

“We cannot turn our back on that legacy,” Hansen said.

Rep. Paul Rosenthal, D-Denver, choking back tears, cried, “It makes me really upset to be ashamed of my country.”

At times raising his voice from the floor of the House during debate, Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, who is considering a run for governor, declared, “The greatest hypocrisy in America is that those who decry the immigrant are here by virtue of immigration.”

Tom Roeder of The Colorado Springs Gazette contributed to this report.