Republicans say Mueller doesn't need more protections, but warn against firing him

Instead, GOP lawmakers maintained Tuesday that additional protections aren't necessary all but offered a sobering warning: any move by Trump to oust Mueller would be cataclysmic for his presidency.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley told CNN, "I think it would be suicide for the President to fire him. I think the less the President says about this whole thing, the better off he will be. And I think Mueller is a person of stature and respected and I respect him."

Over the last 24 hours, Trump's shown signs of increasing anger and his response has been to unleash -- once again -- on the Russian investigation. On Monday afternoon, Trump refused to say he wouldn't fire Mueller and Tuesday morning he tweeted that the investigation was a "witch hunt" and that "Attorney-client privilege is dead!"

"It's a disgrace, it's, frankly, a real disgrace, it's an attack on our country in a true sense. It's an attack on all we stand for," Trump told reporters at the White House Monday afternoon just as news broke of the FBI raid.

"Why don't I just fire Mueller? Well, I think it's a disgrace what's going on. We'll see what happens," Trump added. "And many people have said, you should fire him."

But members in his own party -- just as they did weeks ago -- are reluctant to intervene, saying Trump's comments don't change the fact that they don't see a need to take further action to protect Mueller.

"I believe that Director Mueller has an important job to do, and I believe he can discharge that job in a professional and impartial sort of way. So my advice to anybody would let Director Mueller do his job," said the Senate's No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn of Texas.

Pressed what he'd do if Trump acted to fire Mueller, Cornyn said, "I'm not going to speculate as to what we would do because I think there would be serious repercussions."

"It's hard to predict what that would look like. So, I think Director Mueller ought to be free to do his job and let the courts and let the lawyers work it out," Cornyn said.

Other Republicans downplayed Trump's most recent comments, arguing they didn't reveal anything new about the President's posturing against the Russia investigation.

"I think thematically he's said similar things before so I don't think that that's anything new in my opinion," Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said.

Over and over again, Republicans insisted Trump wasn't about to fire Mueller.

"I don't think he would do that," Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said. "There's always a possibility. He has that prerogative, but so far he's declined to do so and I think it's in his best interest if he does not."

But sources familiar tell CNN that the latest raid on Trump's personal lawyer and longtime confidant has shaken the President in new ways. Cohen had become a surrogate family member to the President, and has been spotted semi-regularly at the White House, at times meeting with Trump or dining with the first lady.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut predicted that the news could lead to the the President being even more "impulsive and wrathful."

Last year, there were two bipartisan bills introduced in the Senate that would protect the special counsel from being fired. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the measures in the fall, but there's been little action on the legislation since.

Sen. Chris Coons, the Delaware Democrat who co-sponsored one of the special counsel protection bills with Tillis, said legislation is "more urgent than ever" in light of Trump's comments Monday.

"I appreciate that all of my Republican colleagues appreciate the risk to the rule of law that an inappropriate, abrupt firing of the special counsel by the President would create," Coons said. "I am deeply puzzled by the lack of urgency or motivation to take some simple measured steps to address it."

Coons said he planned to speak with Tillis and Grassley soon for an update on the measure.