Florida Republican freshman Senator Marco Rubio said that if he were hypothetically not a citizen of the United States and could not provide what his family needed, he would come to the country illegally by crossing over the border.

Rubio, while discussing the policy on immigration in his memoir titled An American Son, said that common decency had to be used when dealing with undocumented immigrants. He also said that if he were in a situation as those fleeing destitution, he too would break the law and cross the border.

Rubio said in his book that many of the people who come to the U.S. illegally are doing what many of us would do if the country in which we lived could not provide enough food for our families. Rubio also wrote that if my children went to bed hungry each night and my country did not give me the opportunity to provide for them, there is not a law, no that would stop me from reaching the U.S.

Rubio is a Republican Party member and the party has been for the most part opposed to efforts to provide a path to residency or citizenship to those people living and working in the country who do not have documentation. He has been working on a version of immigration reform that would allow some of the children, who were brought to the U.S. by their parents, avoid deportation.

Rubio is also being considered as a possible running mate on the Republican presidential ticket of Mitt Romney. Romney spent the entire primary season opposed to immigration plans that would help undocumented immigrants get legal residency or citizenship unless they first returned to their homeland. Romney has since softened his stance on immigration as he is aware how important the Hispanic vote is in winning the election in November.