Rand Paul asks: What happens when we topple secular dictators?

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday the renewed debate over the Iraq War should raise a more forward-looking question: "Is it a good idea to topple secular dictators? And what happens when we do?"

The origins of the Iraq War have been in the news again as Jeb Bush — another top contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 — stumbled last week in trying to answer whether or not his brother made a mistake invading Iraq in 2003. Bush first said he would have done the same thing, then said it was a hypothetical question he could not answer, then said mistakes were made and he would not have done it.

In an interview aired on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, Paul said he does not believe the world would be a better place if Saddam Hussein were still in charge in Iraq. But he noted, "when Hussein was toppled, we got chaos. We still have chaos in Iraq. I think it emboldened Iran. I think — we now have the rise of radical Islam in Iraq as well."

"So you have this radical brand of jihad, this radical brand of Islam, that is now strong and growing stronger because of sort of the failed state that Iraq is," Paul added. "You have the same thing going on in Libya. So this is a valid debate and we're gonna have to have this debate, not only in the Republican primary but in the general, as to whether or not it's a good idea. Is intervention always a good idea? Or sometimes does it lead to unintended consequences?"

On Fox News Sunday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another 2016 contender, said he could not fault George W. Bush for the decision to invade Iraq.

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"It was not a mistake," Rubio said. "He made the right decision based on the information he had at that time" though key parts of the information has proved wrong. Rubio sparred with host Chris Wallace over whether he would have made the same decision to invade Iraq knowing what is now known about the flawed intelligence that showed Hussien was close to having weapons of mass destruction. Rubio argued that it's not a meaningful question because "presidents don't have the benefit of hindsight."