"If I am elected president, we will utterly destroy ISIS," the Texas senator and Republican presidential candidate told reporters. "We won't weaken them. We won't degrade them. We will utterly destroy them. We will carpet bomb them into oblivion. We will  arm the Kurds. We will do everything necessary so that every militant on the face of the earth will know if you go and join ISIS, if you wage jihad and declare war on America, you are signing your death warrant."

Asked whether it was time for voters to apply more scrutiny to Donald Trump and Ben Carson, both political outsiders who have shown limited foreign policy expertise on the campaign trail, Cruz said that in the wake of recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, voters should more carefully evaluate every candidate's credentials.

"They're looking at every candidate for president and assessing who's prepared to be commander in chief, who has the experience, who has the clarity of vision, who has the strength and resolve to keep this country safe," Cruz said.

Also on Saturday, the Cruz campaign is beginning to air a new television ad in Iowa featuring a similar vow to "kill the terrorists."