Lindsey Graham in CBS "Face the Nation" interviews during 2013

On Health Care: Let ObamaCare show itself as a continuing debacle

GRAHAM: I hope we learn from this tactical mistake that they made regarding defunding ObamaCare. We have got a unique opportunity here after this debacle called the shutdown to reenergize the Congress and maybe get better standing.

Q: What about Senator Ted Cruz--has he hurt your party by shutting down on ObamaCare?

GRAHAM: I think the tactical choice that he embraced hurt our party. After this debacle called the shutdown, our party's been hurt. Our brand name is at its lowest ever. ObamaCare actually got a bump in polling. And we got in the way of a disastrous roll-out, so from my point of view, this was a tactical choice that hurt us, but the good news for the Republican Party is that of the debacle is over, if we don't do it again and ObamaCare is a continuing debacle. ObamaCare is a debacle that will go into 2014. The shutdown should be in our rearview mirror as Republicans.

On War & Peace: Get involved in Syria to protect against al Qaeda and Iran

GRAHAM: No, I haven't been satisfied for a long time. Four things are going to happen if we don't change course in Syria

1. It's going to become a failed state by the end of the year. It's going to be an al Qaeda safe haven.
2. The chemical weapons are going to be compromised and fall into the wrong hands.
3. I worry about the king of Jordan. He's had 500,000 refugees flood his country from Syria. His kingdom could fall.
4. If we keep this hands-off approach to Syria, we're going to have a war with Iran because Iran's going to take our inaction in Syria as meaning we're not serious about their nuclear weapons program. We need to get involved.

GRAHAM: There's nothing you can do in Syria without risk, but the greatest risk is a failed state with chemical weapons falling in the hands of radical Islamists.

On Homeland Security: Cuts to military systems will leave us with a hollow force

Sen. McCAIN (R-AZ): As Lindsey gave you the numbers, there are disproportionate cuts to defense. Defense is 19% of the discretionary spending. It's taken 50% of the cuts.

Q: But wouldn't that be a way to start, though?

GRAHAM: Here's why it won't work. We're taking $45 billion a year out of the Defense Department over the next decade. At the end of the decade, we're going to have the smallest Navy since 1915, 232 ships. We're going to have the smallest Air Force in history; the smallest Army since 1940. Our defense spending will be below 3% of GDP. We will have a hollow force. Personnel costs are exempted from sequestration. So you take all the systems, except military pay, and over a decade, you destroy the Defense Department. There is no amount of flexibility in the world will fix this.

On Homeland Security: President did not do enough to protect Benghazi embassy

GRAHAM: Well, there's a six-person rescue team left Tripoli to reinforce the annex in Benghazi. They arrived at 1:30 in the morning Libyan time. And it was not until 5:00 that they could get to the annex. They were held up for three and a half hours at the airport, had a lot of bureaucratic snafus. Here's my question: Did the president ever pick up the phone and call the Libyan government and say, "Let those people out of the airport?" Secretary Clinton said she was screaming on the phone at Libyan officials. Did the president call? This was incredibly mismanaged.