Washington (CNSNews.com) – Potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Mexican drug cartels should be labeled foreign terrorist organizations.

During a forum sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), Cain was asked by CNSNews.com if Mexican drug cartels should be labeled foreign terrorist organizations, as some Republicans in Congress have proposed.

“On the surface I would say yes because we cannot become a lawless nation; to me that’s the danger of not getting serious about what I call the four immigration problems we have, we don’t have one, we’ve got four and we’ve got to go after solving all four of them,” Cain told CNSNews.com.

“Secure the border. I mean, secure the border – not to pretend that we want to secure the border, secure the border. Number two, enforce the laws that are already on the books and in order to enforce the laws that are already on the books, I believe that we need to make it easier for employers to hire legals. Right now, we’ve got too much bureaucracy; people are fighting the national ID approach. We already have a national ID. It’s called a driver’s license.”

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s Oversight, Investigations and Management Subcommittee has introduced legislation instructing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to designate the cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) apprehended at least 663 individuals from countries with ties to terrorism who attempted to cross the southwest border into the U.S.

Cain also said the federal government should allow the states to handle the issue of illegal immigration.

“Empower the states to do what the federal government won’t do, can’t do – empower the states. Give the power to the states to deal with the problem,” he said.