After beating Donald Trump in Iowa, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's star has risen, becoming the most likely Republican candidate to potentially win the 2016 presidential nomination. With this in mind, Latin Post looks at where the 45-year-old candidate stands on core issues.

The Constitution & Religious Freedom

According to his official campaign site, Cruz has been a lifetime defender of the U.S. Constitution. Cruz believes the Obama administration has gone against the Constitution, effectively rendering the government more powerful.

"We need to restore the Constitution as our standard. We need to protect the people by rolling back the federal government to the functions the Constitution sets out. We need to give power back to the states and the people so that we remain a land where liberty can flourish," the site reads.

Many of Cruz's actions supporting constitutional rights appear to be centered on the candidate's firm stance regarding religious freedom. In 2003, he successfully defended the constitutionality of the Texas' Ten Commandments monument, winning a 5-4 landmark decision before the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The effect of the monument, in the eyes of the reasonable observer, is merely a governmental acknowledgment of the substantial contribution of the Ten Commandments to the development of Western civilization and legal codes, a commemoration of one influence, among many, on who we are as a People," Cruz wrote at the time.

In 2014, Cruz defended Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties against Obamacare's contraception mandate when the companies objected to certain FDA-approved forms of contraception that prevent implantation of the embryo.

Gun Rights

Cruz has a noted track record for supporting gun rights and has been lauded by National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.

"Ted Cruz is one of our nation's leading defenders of the Second Amendment," LaPierre said, according to the Cruz campaign site. "For over a decade, Ted has fought tirelessly to defend our constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and his leadership was absolutely critical to our major victories before the U.S. Supreme Court."

The NRA named Cruz their 2010 recipient of the Harlon B. Carter-George S. Knight Freedom Fund award, calling attention to his work on the McDonald v. Chicago case, a landmark Supreme Court decision upholding the right of an individual to keep and bear arms regardless of state.

"Ted Cruz's contributions in the District of Columbia v. Heller and the McDonald v. Chicago cases were vital to the Supreme Court's ruling in the favor of gun rights," NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund Chairman, Bill Dailey said, as quoted in Shooting Wire. "We are deeply grateful for his unwavering efforts in our fight to protect the Second Amendment."

Cruz explains his gun philosophy on his official site. "As we have seen over and over again, criminals prey on the defenseless," he said. "You don't reduce violent crime by taking away the right of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and their families."

Immigration & Border Security

Cruz believes national security is a vital issue, and he would use his powers as president to secure the border and reform the immigration system as to protect jobs for American workers.

In order to address border security, Cruz plans on building a border wall and tripling border security. Aside from this, he would use surveillance and biometric tracking technology.

Cruz opposed the so-called "Gang of Eight" bill, a 2013 bipartisan Senate plan that would allow undocumented immigrants who were in the U.S. before Dec. 31, 2011, to be able to apply for provisional resident status and eventually have the option of navigating a 13-year path to citizenship.

Cruz has expressed his belief that, if the GOP follows the Democrats by seeking amnesty for undocumented immigrants, the party will lose the election. Speaking at the fourth Republican debate, Cruz described the criticism he was receiving for his views on immigration as insulting.

"For those of who believe people ought to come to this country legally and we should enforce the law, we're tired of being told it's anti-immigrant," he said.

Taxes

Under Cruz, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would be completely overhauled and a flat tax would be implemented across the board. According to the Cruz campaign, the flat tax would boost the gross domestic product by 13.9 percent, increase wages by 12.2 percent, and create 4,861,000 jobs.

Under Cruz's new tax plan the current seven rates of personal income tax will become a single rate of 10 percent.

Cruz is not alone among Republicans promoting a Flat Tax. Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul have all proposed similar plans.

Terrorism

In a recent campaign commercial, Cruz said that under Obama's leadership the world has become less safe. The candidate promises to rebuild the U.S. military and kill terrorists "Every Islamic militant will know, if you wage jihad against us, you're signing your death warrant," Cruz said in the clip.

Cruz's official site explains that, if elected president, he will not withdraw from the Middle East, but defend U.S. allies in the region and immediately repeal every word of President Obama's "dangerous" Iran deal, which would allow roughly $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be released.

In a piece written for Politico, Cruz called a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic of Iran "the single greatest threat facing our nation."

Israel

Cruz wants the world to know the U.S.-Israel alliance would be a fundamental part of his administration.

How a candidate sides with Israel is a major issue for conservative voters. According to a Blommberg Poll, two-thirds of Republicans said they were more sympathetic to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than to President Obama.

On his first day in office, Cruz would recognize Jerusalem as the "eternal, undivided capital of Israel" and move the U.S. embassy to that city from its current place in Tel Aviv.

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