After announcing he would run again for his Senate seat, Marco Rubio sat down with CNN’s Jake Tapper to discuss his decision and the importance of this election, his reaction to the recent Supreme Court decision blocking enforcement of President Obama’s immigration executive order, the gun control debate, and the role he would like to see the Senate play, regardless who is elected our next President.

Watch the interview below:

An excerpt, dealing with his decision to run for reelection to the Senate:

Ten, fifteen days ago I would have told you it’s impossible. But we changed our minds, and I say ‘we’ because this decision was made by me, by my wife, with consultation with my children. They don’t get a vote, but they get an opinion because their lives would be impacted. And ultimately it came down to my good friend, who was in the race, told me he was going to get out and he wanted me to do it instead. I know that I have the opportunity to make a difference, not just in the outcome in the race, but what the next six years are like in the Senate. I think the Senate is going to play an extraordinarily important role over the next four years – no matter who wins this election.

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Ultimately, what I want to remind people is no matter who is elected president, and I most certainly hope it’s not [Hillary], you’re still going to have a U.S. Senate. And if the majority of the senators in the Senate are Democrats, and Hillary Clinton, god-forbid, is elected president, she is going to get a blank check. The last time we had that situation was 2008-2010. And it produced ObamaCare, and Dodd-Frank, and the stimulus, and all sorts of other damage to this country. And so I have a chance to make a difference in that regard. It’s the reason why I was in public service. So we had two choices: A much more comfortable path personally. A much safer path politically, because this is a tough race – a primary and a general. Or the opportunity to make a difference. And we chose the opportunity to make a difference. And now we’re going to work real hard to earn peoples’ votes.

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It’s okay to change your mind. What’s important is that people know why you changed your mind. And here’s the truth: It was safer politically for me not to run. And I think most people that observe politics would say that. But I chose this path because I got into public service to make a difference. And I have a chance to make a difference. I have a chance to make a difference, not just in the outcome of this election, but in the direction of this country over the next six years.

Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter: @rumpfshaker.