US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has been doing his best to differentiate himself from fellow Republicans who are running for president and, on Wednesday, he ratcheted up his talking points by holding foreign policy hawks in his own party responsible for the growing strength of the so-called Islamic State militants, according to the New York Times.

“Daesh exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately, and most these arms were snatched up by Daesh,” Mr. Paul said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Mr. Paul also sought to tie Republicans to the policies Hillary Rodham Clinton promoted as secretary of state.

“Daesh is all over Libya because these same hawks in my party loved Hillary Clinton’s war in Libya, they just wanted more of it,” he said. “Libya is a failed state. It’s a disaster.”