"I would certainly implement that. Absolutely," Trump told an NBC News reporter between campaign events Thursday in Newton, Iowa, according to video posted on MSNBC.com.

He said Muslims would be signed up at "different places," adding, "It's all about management."

Asked whether registering would be mandatory, Trump responded, "They have to be."

The latest comments come less than a week after the deadly attacks on a concert hall, sports stadium and restaurants in Paris that have elevated fears of attacks in in the U.S. and prompted calls for new restrictions on Syrian refugees fleeing their war-torn country.

While some of his rivals have been chastised by President Barack Obama for suggesting that Christian Syrian refugees be given preference over Muslims, Trump has gone further in his rhetoric, advocating new restrictions on civil liberties and enhanced surveillance activities, including inside mosques.

He said earlier this week that the country was "going to have no choice" but to close certain mosques because "really bad things are happening, and they're happening fast."