'Heartless': Lawmakers on Both Sides Condemn Biden's Decision for Aug. 31 Afghanistan Deadline

There's growing desperation as families, including many Americans, attempt to flee Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

The terror group is now controlling access to Kabul's airport and says it won't allow any Afghans to leave the country.

"We're waiting to get through but they're not letting us at the moment," said one woman.

President Biden said Tuesday that the evacuation is on schedule.

"We are currently on a pace to finish by August the 31," the President said. "The sooner we could finish the better. Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops."

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More than 70,000 people have been evacuated in the past ten days, including more than 5,400 Americans. But many more are still trapped behind Taliban lines.

The president's decision to hold to the Aug. 31 deadline is facing fierce opposition on all fronts. 

U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) spoke about the crisis on CBN News' Faith Nation program Tuesday. 

"It's both heartless. It's cruel and it's clueless in terms of the disconnect between the reality on the ground," Waltz said .  

Waltz, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, said Biden's public statements don't match closed-door intelligence briefings.

"What we're hearing in private from his own team in classified briefings where they admit that Americans and our Afghan allies are being hunted down," he explained. "They're in danger and that Al-Qaeda is going to come roaring back. It's not a matter of if, but just when."

Even Democrats doubt the evacuation can be completed in time and are calling for an extension.

"We must do everything necessary, regardless of the deadline at the end of the month," said U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, (D-CO).  "We must extend that and get the mission done. The deadline is when the mission is accomplished, and we bring our people home. Full stop."

Meanwhile, Waltz will introduce a measure condemning the president's failure to heed the advice of military and intelligence advisors.

He warns that the U.S. will pay a heavy price in the future. 

"We're just weeks away from the 20th anniversary of 9-11 and yet we're being dictated to by the Taliban 20 years later," Waltz said. "And Al-Qaeda is going to be back again for some future 9-11. So the blood that's going to be on Biden's hands is not just the Americans and Afghans trapped in Kabul right now as we speak, but that future attack on the homeland, the future American soldiers that are going to have to go back and once again deal with a threat of terrorism." 

"But this time with no bases, no local allies and with a Taliban that's armed to the teeth with our own equipment that we allowed to fall in their hands," he added. 

Meanwhile, a new USA Today, Suffolk University poll shows that President Biden's overall approval rating has dropped to 41 percent, while 62 percent disapprove of his handling of the crisis in Afghanistan.