Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Donald Trump should not apologize "for speaking out against the problem that is illegal immigration" during an interview on the Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday.

"Amnesty is wrong," Cruz said. "It's unfair to millions of legal immigrants, immigrants like my dad, who came legally in 1957, penniless and not speaking English. When it comes to Donald Trump, I like Donald Trump. I think he's terrific, I think he's brash, I think he speaks the truth. And I think NBC is engaging in political correctness that is silly and that is wrong."

The day before, NBC announced it was dropping Trump's Miss USA and Miss Universe beauty pageants and indicated the real estate mogul would no longer host "The Apprentice." The network's decision came following Trump's controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants during his mid-June campaign announcement. Trump accused Mexico of sending "rapists and drug dealers" to America, adding that "some, I assume, are good people."

"Donald Trump, he has a way of speaking that gets attention. And I credit him for focusing on an issue that needs to be focused on," Cruz said.

The Texas senator, whose father is Cuban, said that most people crossing the border aren't rapists and drug dealers, but the smugglers bringing illegal immigrants over the border are "definitely criminals."

Trump appreciated Cruz's comments, tweeting "Thank you Ted" on Tuesday morning.

Cruz has been critical of immigration reform. On June 17, he announced a bill titled "Immigration Slush Fund Elimination Act" that would stop the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) ability to use its fees "for the provision of legal immigration services to fund amnesty."

"The federal government should not be in the business of looting the wallets of those who followed the law and came here legally to fund the President's illegal and unconstitutional amnesty," Cruz said in a statement.

Cruz and Trump are both campaigning for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.