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 Under the Constitution, presidents must be "natural born
citizens." Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, to an American mother,
which he says makes him eligible to run.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told ABC's "This Week" the
Senate would not act to counter Trump's claim that Cruz's Canadian
birth makes him ineligible to be president. The father of the
senator from Texas was born in Cuba.
In 2008, the Senate passed a resolution declaring Senator John
McCain, a Republican presidential candidate, a natural born citizen.
McCain was born to American parents on a U.S. military base in the
Panama Canal Zone.
"I just don't think the Senate ought to get into the middle of
this," McConnell said. "These guys are all slugging it out in Iowa
and New Hampshire. We'll have a nominee, hopefully, by sometime in
the spring."
 The winner will face the Democrats' nominee in the November general
election.
Trump, who leads Republican candidates in national opinion polls, is
grappling with the rise of Cruz in Iowa, which holds the first
presidential nominating contest next month.
As Cruz took the lead in Iowa before its Feb. 1 caucuses, Trump's
glare followed. The billionaire businessman highlighted the
citizenship issue last week, warning that Democrats could challenge
Cruz's eligibility in court.
Cruz has refused to engage with Trump on the issue. On Sunday, he
said the law was straightforward.
"As a legal matter, the Constitution and federal law are clear that
the child of U.S. citizens born abroad is a natural-born citizen,"
he told CNN's "State of the Union." Asked on "Fox News Sunday"
whether he really doubted Cruz was a natural born citizen, Trump
said, "I don't know. I really don't know. It depends.
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"Does natural born mean born to the land, meaning born on the land?
In that case, he's not."
Trump said the term has not been adjudicated, and advised Cruz to
seek a judgment.
"He has to solve this problem because the Democrats will sue him if
he's the nominee," Trump said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Another Republican candidate, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, said on
CBS' "Face the Nation" it was unclear if Cruz qualified as a natural
born citizen and that Democrats will likely challenge that.
Cruz said the attacks against him are telling.
"Three weeks ago, almost every Republican candidate was attacking
Donald Trump," Cruz said on CNN. "Today almost every Republican
candidate is attacking me. And that kinda suggests something has
changed in the race."
(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan and Roberta Rampton; Editing
by Jonathan Oatis)
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reserved.]
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