Republican presidential candidate and Texas senator Ted Cruz said he believes that he would not be violating his Christian faith if, as president, he follows up on his pledge to "carpet bomb" Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists and defeat them decisively.

"Let's be clear, the Bible says, 'Thou shalt not murder,' which is different from 'Thou shalt not kill,'" Cruz told Newsmax TV on Wednesday. "And defending yourself is an obligation of any president. It is not murder."

Cruz, who is running second in the Republican presidential race behind Donald Trump, noted that Americans killed thousands of Nazis in World War II, but it wasn't called murder.

"When you have the face of evil that has declared war ... then it is the essence of duty to defend your nation, to defend the innocent," Cruz said. "When it comes to jihadists, they have declared war on us, and that's what President Obama and Hillary Clinton refuse to acknowledge."

Cruz said the U.S. should have a leader who fights radical Islam the same way President Ronald Reagan fought the Soviet Union to end the Cold War.

Cruz said Muslims in America should not be fearful of the fight against radical Islam if they do not belong to this camp, Newsmax reported.

If he succeeds in winning the presidency, Cruz said he would tell American Muslims that "we need a president whose first obligation is to protect the American people and keep the country safe."

He blasted President Obama for sticking "his head in the sand" and refusing to acknowledge that the U.S. is at war against radical Islam. "We have a president who refuses even to say the words 'radical Islamic terrorism.' Hillary Clinton and all of the Democrats they refuse to say the words 'radical Islamic terrorism,'" Cruz said.

The ISIS, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, Boko Haram and the leadership in Iran all are radical Islamic terrorists and have declared jihad on America, the senator from Texas said.

Instead of confronting the real enemy, the Democrats have "stoked up" fears among Muslims born and raised in the United States, Cruz said.

Following the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Obama didn't deliver a message expressing outrage at the terrorists, claiming instead that the biggest danger facing America was Islamophobia, Cruz stated.

"What utter nonsense," he said. "Look, there's nobody targeting innocent, peaceful Muslims in America. There are however radical Islamic terrorists both in the Middle East and here in America that are trying to murder innocent Americans and by the way they're trying to murder Christians, they're trying to murder Jews, they're trying to murder Muslims."

Radical Islamists are willing to murder anyone who doesn't embrace Islamism, which Cruz said is different from the Muslim faith.

"Islamism is a theocratic and political doctrine, the proponents of which believe that Sharia law should be mandated by law and that they are commanded to wage jihad and to forcibly convert or murder anyone who doesn't embrace their radical Sharia law or Islamist view," he said.