Mike Huckabee Calls Himself 'Paradoxical Republican'

What did you mean by that?

Huckabee: Well, first of all, I didn't mean that everybody who has some anxiety about immigration is a racist.

And that was one of those things that suddenly blew up and people said, "Oh, he accused us all of being racists."

Absolutely not. There are a lot of people who are concerned. I'm concerned.

I'm concerned that our borders are porous and we're allowing people to come in and out without any real check as to who they are, where they're going, why they're here, do they have a communicable disease or a criminal background?

We need to know those things.

I'm not as worried about somebody who's coming across to pluck a chicken or pick a tomato or make a better Laquinta.

I'm particularly concerned about somebody who might cross this border with a shoulder-fired missile.

But even those people who are coming to pluck chickens and pick tomatoes, frankly, I want them to come in an orderly way. I want them to cross the border legally.

When I go to the Little Rock airport, I have to go through all kinds of hoops just to get on the airplane.

Now, they know who I am. They all call me by name, but I still show a photo I.D. I take my shoes off, I take my computer out and I put on a different little basket. I get my jacket off and the whole deal. I don't mind that because that's the way I'm supposed to get on the plane.

But I go through several layers of security and authenticate my personhood with the proper documentation.

I'm a taxpaying U.S. citizen. I'm a person who's been a public official, but I go through those layers...

Stephanopoulos: But you've also said we're going to be judged by how we treat the illegals who are here right now.

Huckabee: We shouldn't have amnesty where we just say, "Fine, everybody's good, we're going to let it go." We should have a process where people can pay the penalties, step up and accept responsibility for not being here legally.

But here's the point. The objective is not to be punitive. The objective is to make things right. Right for us. Right for them.

And what I have objected to in the past is when we are punishing the children for the laws that maybe their parents have broken.

I do have a problem with that.

Stephanopoulos: Governor Romney is considering saying that the children of illegal immigrants shouldn't automatically become citizens.

What do you think about that?

Huckabee: Maybe that should be looked at. I mean, if people are rushing across the border, illegally, delivering a baby and then saying, "Whew, now we're here."

I think that's a little disingenuous to the concept of really being a naturally-born U.S. citizen.

But it's not an issue that I have put a stake in the ground and said: This is how we ought to handle it.

Stephanopoulos: Let me ask you another question about Governor Romney. His religion, he's a Mormon, has become -- is going to become a big part of this campaign, clearly.

You're a Southern Baptist, a former Southern Baptist preacher. And that denomination teaches, I believe, that Mormonism is a cult.

How bit a hurdle is that going to be for Governor Romney in this campaign?

Huckabee: Well, you know, I'm not sure. And I don't know that anyone knows.

What I can tell you is about my faith and what it means. And I think people ought to look at every person who runs for office and they ought to ask them questions about who they are and what they are about and what drives their decisions.

I'm not as troubled by a person who has a different faith. I'm troubled by a person who tells me their faith doesn't influence their decisions. Because if a person says to me, "Here's my faith, but it doesn't influence me at all," what it says to me is: "My faith isn't very significant."

Stephanopoulos: How does it influence yours?

Huckabee: It totally drives it. It makes everything click for me.

And that will explain to you why I have a passion for life. But it means that my pro-life position doesn't end at the birth canal; that I believe that life is more than a gestation period. I believe life begins at conception; I just don't think it ends at birth.

And that's why, as a governor, I've fourth hard to see children have medical insurance and decent schools and safe neighborhoods and drinking water and affordable housing, because that's consistent with me being pro-life. I don't want to see some single mom, you know, worry and struggle that she's not going to be able to have food for her kids. I don't want some wife to have the daylights beaten out of her by some abusive husband and have nowhere to turn.

Those are things that are driven because of my faith. That's not a political position. It's a faith position.

Stephanopoulos: Mayor Giuliani said he hates abortion, but he's pro-choice.

Is that position a game-ender in the Republican primaries?

Huckabee: We'll find out in this election, it looks like, because it's going to be an issue that will clearly separate some of the candidates.

But I'm pro-life because I think it's consistent with who we are as an American people. We are a culture and a civilization that celebrates life. We cherish our children's lives. We grieve when they die.

I think it is the great contrast between us and, frankly, the Islamic fascists, who would strap a bomb to their own children's chest and march them into a room full of innocent people and blow them up and then be proud of their children's martyrdom, and think somehow that that's a great thing and it's going to give them a special place in heaven.