One night after the Paris terror attacks, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley spoke about foreign policy, immigration and the minimum wage for the second Democratic presidential debate.

Perhaps recognized with the most foreign policy experience on stage, noting her time as the first secretary of state in President Barack Obama's administration, Clinton said the Islamic State militant group has to be "defeated" rather than "contained."

"What the president has consistently said, which I agree with, is that we will support those who will take that fight to ISIS," Clinton said.

Sanders said he "would argue" that the hostilities across the Middle East is a result of the Iraq invasion, which he acknowledged Clinton voted for while he opposed it. Sanders added that the Iraq invasion led to the rise of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

"I think that was one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the history of the United States," added Sanders.

"I have said the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, but I think if we're ever going to tackle the problems posed, we need to understand it," Clinton said.

O'Malley, who has called for the U.S. to accept up to 65,000 Syrian refugees, defended his stance on the topic as long as there is proper screening. Clinton agreed that proper screening should be the first thing to do in regards to accepting the refugees. Sanders also agreed that there is a call to support the refugees but wasn't set to announce a "magic number" for the U.S. to accept.

"I do not want us to in any way inadvertently allow people who wish us harm to come into our country," said Clinton.

On immigration, the three Democratic candidates agreed on the need for immigration reform. O'Malley attacked the Republican presidential candidates for not supporting immigrants, specifically calling Donald Trump an "immigrant-bashing carnival barker" -- a statement that garnered loud applause from the Iowa audience.

"The truth of the matter is net immigration form Mexico last year was zero. ... But the truth of the matt is if we want wages to go up we've got to get 11 million of our neighbors out of the off-the-books shadow economy and into the full light of an American economy," said O'Malley

"Our symbol is the Statue of Liberty, it is not a barbed wire fence," added O'Malley.

Clinton said she supports the Obama administration's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to review a court's decision to temporarily block the president's 2014 immigration executive actions, which includes the introduction of the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) expansion. DAPA and DACA's expansion programs would provide approximately 4.9 million eligible undocumented immigrants with the opportunity to temporarily avoid deportation. Clinton added that she has reviewed Obama's executive action and is convinced "that the president has the authority that he attempted to exercise with respect to Dreamers and their parents."

Utilizing Twitter, Trump responded to the Democrats, writing, "Hillary and Sanders are not doing well, but what is the failed former Mayor of Baltimore doing on that stage? O'Malley is a clown."

In regards to the federal minimum wage, O'Malley and Sanders agreed for a $15 an hour standard. Clinton also supports raising the minimum wage but to $12 an hour, with states having the right to go higher.

"I do believe that is minimum and places like Seattle and Los Angeles and New York, they can go higher ... I think that is the smartest way to be able to move forward because if you go to $12 it would be the highest historical average we've ever had," said Clinton, naming economist Alan Krueger as a source to her decision.

Clinton also fought back against claims she receives plenty campaign donations from Wall Street donors. Sanders claimed Clinton may have worked in favor of Wall Street as a result of accepting their donations.

"The business model of Wall Street is fraud. Here's my promise: Wall Street representatives will not be in my cabinet," said Sanders.

"He (Sanders) has basically used his answer to impugn my integrity," Clinton said, noting she worked to rebuild Wall Street after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. "I represented New York and represented New York on 9/11. Where Wall Street is and it was good for the economy and it was a way to rebuke the terrorists who had attacked our country."

"I won't be taking my orders from Wall Street," O'Malley said.

Following the CBS News debate, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said, "What they (Americans) heard was a spirited debate, one that showed that our Democratic candidates have a firm grasp on America's foreign policy challenges, while respecting voters and keeping the discussion at a serious and substantive level. Our candidates also showed that they are the only ones running for president who understand the importance of investing in the middle class and strengthening the economy to keep America moving forward."

She added, "Our candidates are the only ones committed to making college affordable, to raising the federal minimum wage, to protecting our seniors, to fixing the broken immigration system and to addressing climate change."

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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