DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on the deployment of National Guard troops to L.A.

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke with Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan Sunday about the President Donald Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard in Los Angeles.

The Trump Administration announced Saturday it was deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles in response to large-scale protests which erupted Saturday following dozens of arrests Friday in citywide Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.

President Trump's memo stated that at least 2,000 National Guard troops were being deployed under the president's Title 10 authority "for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense."

When Brennan asked which units were being deployed and what exactly their orders are, Secretary Noem said, "President Trump is putting the safety of the communities that are being impacted by these riots and by these protests that have turned violent, and he's putting the safety of our law enforcement officers first."

"So these 2,000 National Guard soldiers that are being engaged today are ones that are specifically trained for this type of crowd situation, where they'll be with the public and be able to provide safety around buildings and to those that are engaged in peaceful protests, and also to our law enforcement officers so they can continue their daily work," Noem added.

Brennan followed up by saying officers with the California National Guard are at the Edward Roybal Center in Los Angeles, which is a plaza with a federal building, courtrooms, a processing center, a detention center, and a veterans' clinic.

This prompted Brennan to ask Noem if the soldiers are going to "remain around" the building and if she plans to have them "go throughout the city of Los Angeles," and the latter said:

"I won't speak specifically to all the locations where the National Guard soldiers will be deployed to, or where they will be conducting different operations as far as security concerns. They're there at the direction of the President in order to keep peace and allow people to be able to protest, but also to keep law and order. That is incredibly important to the President. He recognizes he was elected to make sure that every single person in this country was treated exactly the same, and that we would enforce the laws. And that is what ICE is doing every day as they're out on our streets and working to go after bad criminals and people that have perpetuated violence on these communities. The gang members we have picked up in LA because of their hard work are horrible people. Assault, drug trafficking, human trafficking. They are now off of those streets, and they are safer because these ICE operations are ongoing. Unfortunately, we've seen some violent protests happen, and that's why these National Guard soldiers are being utilized to help with some security in some areas."

During the interview, Brennan and Noem talked about the California Governor Gavin Newsom saying he doesn't want the federalized system in California, saying he's got it under control and "there's no shortage of law enforcement," with Governor Newsom saying he called in the California Highway Patrol.

At the same time, Newsom said the Trump Administration is "seeking a spectacle" while asking protesters to not get violent and don't engage to which Noem shared her thoughts saying:

"If he was doing his job, then people wouldn't have gotten hurt the last couple of days. We wouldn't have officers with a shattered wrist from bricks being thrown through their vehicles, their vehicles being burned, flags being burned in the street and Molotov cocktails being thrown. Governor Newsom has proven that he makes bad decisions. The President knows that he makes bad decisions, and that's why the President chose the safety of this community over waiting for Governor Newsom to get some sanity. And that's one of the reasons why these National Guard soldiers are being federalized so they can use their special skill set to keep peace. We're not going to let a repeat of 2020 happen. And if you remember, it all happened in Tim Walz's state in Minneapolis...And Governor Tim Walz made very bad decisions and then tried to get the rest of us governors to send our National Guard in to bail him out when he let his city burn for days on end."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Noem, click here.