LORENCE, S.C. — Jeb Bush tried to clarify his position on whether the U.S. should accept any Syrian refugees, as the question roiled the GOP presidential race in the days following the terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday.

The former Florida governor on Tuesday refused to echo the bombast of the current Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, who has vowed to “bomb the sh––” out of ISIL. And he wouldn’t go as far as Sen. Ted Cruz, who has introduced legislation to halt the influx of all Muslim refugees.

Bush said he supports governors who want to halt the flow of refugees to their states. “I think they’re doing the right thing because they haven’t gotten any information about what the screening process is,” he said. 

But he expressed openness to allowing some refugees, with women, children and Christian minorities given priority, to be given asylum by the United States as long as there is a thorough vetting process in place. 

“It’s not our obligation to take in all of the challenges of the world,” Bush said following an appearance at Wholly Smokin’ BBQ here Tuesday afternoon. “We have a noble tradition of accepting refugees, but in this particular case, given the circumstances, I think there ought to be thorough vetting.”

Bush faulted the Obama administration for not being more transparent about what the process is for ensuring that the refugees who come to the U.S. don’t have terrorist ties. But he refused to rule out the possibility of taking in some moderate Muslim refugees, saying only that persecuted Christians should be given priority.

“There aren’t any Christian terrorists in the Middle East; they’re persecuted minorities,” said Bush, who was pressed on how the country should determine whether refugees are indeed Christian.

“You’re a Christian. You can prove you’re a Christian,” he said. “I think you can prove it. If you can’t prove it, you err on the side of caution.”

Although questions about his position on the subject of refugees dominated his day on the trail in South Carolina, Bush asserted that the more important issue is settling on a strategy to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as ISIL or ISIS, in Iraq and Syria.

“Why don’t they just solve the problem the way presidents should solve it, which is to engage and take out ISIS and create safe zones in the region so we don’t have a refugee problem?”

Bush, who continues to languish in the polls, is optimistic that the sobering events of the past week will refocus voters on national security and the need for a president with experience. During an informal 30-minute question-and-answer session here, Bush offered himself to voters as “a steady hand.”

He went further afterward with reporters, criticizing Trump’s profane language and his approach to foreign affairs in general.

“Donald Trump has said a lot of things about this, and it does give one pause about his capabilities of being president of the United States,” Bush said.

Just hours earlier, a new poll showed 33 percent of Republican voters trusted Trump to handle ISIS, while 17 percent most trusted Marco Rubio.

Nine percent of respondents said they trusted Bush the most, according to the Reuters poll.