"Can we really defeat this enemy if we don't acknowledge the role that Islamic ideology plays in terrorism?" CBN News asked West.

"When you look at the national security strategy, it does not talk about jihadism, does not talk about Islamic terrorism, does not talk about Muslim extremism--as a matter of fact, it talks more about global warming and climate change," he answered.

"We have to be able to stand up and forthrightly declare there is an ideology out there that's fueling this thing," he said "You can't say this is a 'war on terrorism.' Terrorism is a tactic, and a nation can't fight a tactic."

"And we have to have that dialogue up here in the halls of Congress and among our leadership," he continued. "Or else, we're just going to head down the road to perdition."