Rand Paul: Can the GOP get behind his foreign policy views?

>>> welcome back to " morning joe ." 49 past the hour.

>> is that one of sting's favorite songs? when it came out, i really wasn't sure, man. but this is great sting song.

>> in "the washington post " standing with ram nervously. for the moment i'm standing with rand on one leg only. his isolationist foreign policy and clan to eliminate federal deficits in five years makes it imprudent to jump in with both feet. consider on tuesday paul endorsed a version of immigration reform that would allow the 11 million or so undocumented immigrants in this country to become legal. the week before he defied the hawks in his party to lead a 13-hour filibuster in protest of the obama admission's secretory over its drone war fare program.

>> dan senor , you've been involved in republican presidential primaries lately. sorry about that. how would those issues stack up in new hampshire and iowa and south carolina and florida?

>> i think the politics, his politics on pure fiscal issues will have tremendous resonance as his father experienced in some primary states and caucus states. i think what is untested is -- from a -- from a political standpoint is his position on foreign policy . his father never really broke through on the neoisolationist politics at the grassroots level beyond a narrow segment of the electorate. rand who i've spent time talking about these issues is much salvier than his father.

>> his father blamed in effect u.s. foreign policy for 9/11. i haven't really dug in deep to the cross tabs but i'm guessing that probably doesn't help in western iowa. rand is salvier than that, right?

>> sure. talking about the president being in israel . so rand's father was extremely tough on israel which did not play well with, for instance, evangelical christians who vote to disproportionately high numbers in the republican primaries . rand lays out a view of the middle east and israel . he says i'm against foreign aid to israel and say i'm against international assistance to israel but i'll stand with israel . i'm pro israel and recognize it's a isolated region in this country. again, when you really drill down and i think rand is smart and savvy. i think where he is heading on foreign policy , he is just on the cusp here of either being very clever about it or starting to wig people out. i think that this -- the night of the filibuster and drones seemed like it was a good political move. over time , weeks will people be saying what was he fighting for?

>> all right. dan senor and richard wolfe, thank you very much.

>> thank you very much. on the way out, we have a diving board with a very big ground pool.

>> don't talk big gulp around here. very hard getting through the show. 16 ounces some very hard.

>> wow.

>>> coming up, he was also named successor, almost named a successor to johnny carson on