Paris attacks: Obama accuses Republicans of acting like 'recruiters for Isis' with response to refugees

Obama said their rhetoric was 'offensive and hysterical'

Obama said after terrorist attacks 'we descend into fear and panic' (OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama has launched a scathing attack on Republicans who want America to stop taking in Syrian refugees in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, describing some of the language used as "hysterical and offensive" and tantamount to acting as a "recruitment tool" for Isis.

Mr Obama hit back after Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan advocated a “pause” of the Syrian refugee resettlement programme “in order to verify that terrorists are not trying to infiltrate the refugee population”.

Speaking in the Philippines during a meeting with President Benign Aquino, POTUS condemned the rhetoric used by some Republican members for playing into Isis's propaganda campaign, saying: “I cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for Isil [Isis] than some of the rhetoric that’s coming out of here during the course of this debate."

“[Isis] seeks to exploit the idea that there’s war between Islam and the West, and when you see individuals in positions of responsibility suggesting Christians are more worthy of protection than Muslims are in a war-torn land, that feeds the Isis narrative. It’s counter-productive and it needs to stop.”

Mr Obama was referring to a recommendation made by GOP candidate Jeb Bush that the country only admits Christian Syrians - although he later said he would give preference to Christians over Muslims.

“We are not well served when in response to a terrorist attack, we descend into fear and panic," Mr Obama said.

"We don’t make good decisions if it’s based on hysteria or an exaggeration of risks. When individuals say we should have a religious test and that only Christians, proven Christians should be admitted, that’s offensive."

Mr Obama also accused the opposition party of being scared of widows and orphans coming into the US, dismissing calls for a block on Syrian refugees as political posturing and mocking Republicans for apparently being scared of such vulnerable people.

According to The Guardian, Mr Obama told reporters: "These are the folks who suggested they're so tough that just 'talk to Putin' or staring down Isis [will work]... but they are scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America as part of our tradition of compassion.

"At first they were too scared of the press being too tough on them in the debates. Now they are scared of three-year-old orphans. That doesn't seem so tough to me."

An estimated 2,500 Syrian refugees have fled to America since 2011. Data released by state department officials shows about two per cent are single men of combat age.

And while he said he understood why Americans have been "particularly" affected by Friday’s attacks in the French capital, the President reiterated the meticulousness of the current refugee screening process, which takes between 18 and 24 months.

There had been claims that one of the terrorists involved in Friday’s attacks entered France among a group of refugees and was carrying a Syrian passport, although security officials have said the passport may have been a fake.

Additional reporting by Associated Press.