Conway says airport detentions are 'a small price to pay' for security

Airport chaos including the detention of travelers with legitimate papers is a worthwhile sacrifice for national security, said Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, on Fox News Sunday while speaking with Chris Wallace. "325,000 people from overseas came into this country just yesterday through our airports," she said, and fewer than 400 have been affected by President Trump's Friday executive order that temporarily bans U.S. entry of people from seven majority-Muslim nations.

"That's 1 percent," Conway continued. "And I think in terms of the upside being greater protection of our borders, of our people, it's a small price to pay," she added, arguing that temporary detention pales in comparison to the grief of the children whose parents were killed in the 9/11 attacks.

Her comments come in response to the case of two Iraqi men, one a former U.S. Army employee, who were detained at the airport in New York City because Trump signed the order while they were in transit. Multiple judges ruled Saturday night that they and those in comparable situations must be released.

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Wallace pressed Conway to address President Trump's incorrect claim that it has been substantially more difficult for Christian refugees to enter the United States than Muslim refugees, and to answer why countries like Saudi Arabia, the home country of the majority of 9/11 hijackers, are not on the seven-country list. Conway repeatedly deflected on both issues. Watch her remarks in context below. Bonnie Kristian