Pam Bondi supports Trump's immigration order

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday praised the immigration executive order signed last week by President Donald Trump.

"I support a temporary ban on those seven certain countries so we can properly vet immigrants to allow true refugees into our great country while preventing potential terrorist organizations from entering," Bondi told the Times/Herald via text message.

She said she does not "agree with a ban on all Muslims," which was proposed by Trump during the campaign and that she "firmly believes in religious liberty."

The comments echo an earlier intervew on Fox Business, in which Bondi said she "firmly believes" in Trump's order, which temporarily banned nationals of seven Islamic countries from entering the United States and blocked refugee resettlements. A judge halted parts of it late Saturday, and the order led to weekend-long protests at airports around the country.

"We all knew this was coming," Bondi said, adding that, "We need to get them (immigrants) here, but we need to get them here the right way."

Attorneys general in 16 states, all Democrats, came out against the executive order Monday.

Under former President Barack Obama, Bondi was a frequent critic of federal immigration policy and sued the administration over an executive order deferring deportation of 5 million immigrants.