"When you have indications that one of the Paris attackers may have come through the refugee routes, don't you think common sense dictates that we call for a pause?" asked Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan after controversy grew earlier in the week over President Barack Obama's plans to allow 10,000 Syria refugees to the United States.

"We think the prudent, the responsible thing is to take a pause in this particular aspect of this refugee program in order to verify that terrorists are not trying to infiltrate the refugee population," Ryan said.

Republicans in the House of Representatives easily voted on the bill Thursday that requires beefed up background checks for refugees coming from war-torn Syria and Iraqi. Forty-seven Democrats joined with Republicans to back the bill.

The legislation stipulates that in addition to routine FBI checks, top national security officials must personally certify that each refugee from these two countries are not a threat.

"We will not welcome terrorists," Republican Doug Collins from Georgia warned.

That sentiment was echoed by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"The American people are quite concerned and upset about the possibility of terrorists coming into our country through some type of refugee program," McConnell said.

Critics of the legislation weren't afraid to sound off their displeasure. On the Senate floor, discussion over the refugee program took an ugly tone.

"I've been disgusted, Mr. President, in recent days to see so many of my Republican colleagues shun the American tradition of displaying compassion for those in need, of sheltering those fleeing death, torture, rape and depression," Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said. "I've been disgusted by Republican fear-mongering and bigotry."

Reid went on to draw parallels with Nazi Germany and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

"We cannot repeat the dark days of the 1930s, when many Americans resolved to turn away the helpless refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, or imprisoning of Japanese Americans during World War II," Reid said.

Shortly after Reid's statements, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz introduced a bill in the Senate that would stop all refugees from countries where ISIS has a presence from entering the United States.

The bill failed and Cruz accused Democrats of acting against the security of America.

"Unfortunately, the Democratic Party, the Democratic senators in this party have chosen to stand with President Obama and his absurd political correctness, his refusal to even utter the words, 'radical Islamic terrorism,'" Cruz said.

"They are supporting a policy of bringing tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees into this country knowing full well that we cannot vet them to determine who is coming here to wage jihad," he said.

But Obama said introducing legislation to prevent refugees from coming to our shores goes against America's values.

"Slamming the door in the face of refugees would betray our deepest values," the president tweeted. "That's not who we are. And it's not what we are going to do."

The president has threatened to veto the bill, saying it would create "significant delays and obstacles" for the vetting process.

"Given the lives at stake and the critical importance to our partners in the Middle East and Europe of American leadership in addressing the Syrian refugee crisis... the administration would veto the bill," the White House said in a statement.

While some lawmakers earlier in the week called for a "pause" in the resettlement program, others are willing to accept folks escaping ISIS's brutality on the condition that the vetting process is improved.

"America has a proud tradition of welcoming refugees into our country, and we lead the world in humanitarian assistance," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said in a statement.

"However, we also must put proper measures in place to ensure our country's safety."

The Senate is expected to vote on a similar bill later this month.

Meanwhile, the United States has already admitted 1,845 Syrians since 2012. The U.S. annually accepts 70,000 refugees from around the world. This group includes people fleeing violence, religious persecution, and war.

Sen. Charles Schumer, the third-ranking member of the Democratic leadership, says that while refugee procedures need to improve, people who are on the terrorist watch list must be prevented from buying firearms. (Screengrab via CBN News)

"We also need to crackdown on the indefensible, dangerous and frankly ridiculous loophole that allows people on the Terrorist Watch List to purchase guns and explosives," Schumer said. "Over 2,000 people on the Terrorist Watch List have attempted to buy guns, 91 percent have gotten those guns."

Schumer is backing legislation put forth by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA., which tightens up America's Visa Waiver Program.

"We need to have tough screening for every refugee from Syria who is coming into the United States," Schumer said. "But if a terrorist is going to try to come into this country they are much more likely to use loopholes in the Visa Waiver Program to do it instead of waiting two years to go through the refugee screening process." A State Department spokesperson told CBN News that the agency's refugee vetting procedures have been "significantly enhanced over the past few years" and involve "a broad array of law enforcement, intelligence, and other databases to confirm a refugee's identity."

"Today, all refugees are subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States, including the involvement of the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense," the spokesperson said.

Despite the controversy, a new Bloomberg Politics poll shows a majority of Americans want the president to suspend his resettlement plans.

Fifty-three percent said the program should be put on hold. Eleven percent said they'd prefer Syrian Christians and not Muslims to be accepted, and 28 percent want the current screening process to stay the same.

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