Senator Rand Paul has warned President Trump that a more severe response is required to the murder of reporter Jamal Khashoggi, otherwise the Saudi regime will view the US as weak.

In an interview with CBS Sunday, Paul noted that sanctions are not strong enough.

"We need to punish who ordered this, who's in charge, and really the only thing they understand over there is strength," Paul urged.

"I think they will see sanctions as weakness on the part of the president and if the president wants to act strongly he should cut off the arms sale." the Senator continued.

"The thing about sanctions is that I think sanctions are pretending to do something without really doing anything," Paul said on Face the Nation.

Trump has opted to place sanctions against 17 Saudi Arabian individuals thought to be involved in the plot to kill Khashoggi.

Paul, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that "Most of these people are in prison" already.