John Boehner, R-Ohio, the top Republican in the U.S. House, said Sunday America may need to send troops to fight the Islamic State militant group.

“At the end of the day, I think it’s gonna take more than airstrikes to drive them outta there. At some point, somebody’s boots have to be on the ground,” said the House representative on ABC’s This Week.

When asked if those boots would be American, he responded, “Listen, the president doesn’t want to do that,” adding that if the President’s plan to train foreign troops in order place them on the ground rather than American ones succeeds, so be it, but “somebody’s boots have to be there.”

If no one else is up to the task, then, “We have no choice,” Boehner said heavy-handedly, “These are barbarians, They intend to kill us. And if we don’t destroy them first, we’re going to pay the price.”

Boehner also mentioned bills to boost the economy he would like to see passed: Repealing the tax on medical devices and renewing the Keystone pipeline.

Immigration reform was also a topic. Boehner expressed regret that the prediction he made last year that a new immigration law would be instated by now had not occurred. He blamed the recent lapses in border control, saying border security needs to come before immigration reform can be established.

He also said both parties would have to agree on an immigration bill before it could be passed. “Issue of immigration, only way to do it, and frankly the right way to do it, is to do it in a broad bipartisan way,” said Boehner.