Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio got into their biggest face-off yet over immigration

Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in a Republican presidential debate at Reagan Library.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The gloves are off. After a successful Tuesday night debate for both Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and weeks of running close in the polls, the two Republican presidential candidates have gotten into their first big clash. As the two candidates fight for the same base of conservative voters, they're beginning to butt heads on a key topic: immigration.

The face-off started Wednesday with Cruz criticizing Rubio for his role in the 2013 Gang of Eight immigration reform bill and his opposition to securing the border. "In my view, if Republicans nominate for president a candidate who supports amnesty, we will have given up one of the major distinctions with Hillary Clinton and we will lose the general election," Cruz said, underscoring Rubio's positions. "That is a path to losing."

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