This old saw is called the “Law of holes.” Meaning if you find yourself in an unstainable position, change course rather than pushing on and making the situation worse. At first glance, this advice could be directed toward Donald Trump. Each week he says something more outrageous than the week before, creating dyspepsia within the ranks of the media, the left, and the Republican establishment. Shouldn’t he change course with his bombastic comments and moderate his position to that of a more electable candidate, say Jeb Bush?

Yet Trump continues to rise in the polls, even after his latest outrageous comments about Muslim immigration. The “law of holes” I refer to is not about Donald Trump, but instead about Barack Obama and his approach to immigration and radical Islam.

The hole the president is in refers to his failed and misguided approach to immigration and the threat of radical Islam. As the San Bernardino shootings clearly illustrate, his policy is failing. Rather than changing course, he doubles down, pushing more of the same, expecting a different outcome. Which, by the way, was Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity.

A failure of intelligence contributed to the San Bernardino shootings. The husband and wife terror team were radicalized before they met in 2013. They planned a terror attack as far back as 2012. They traveled unhindered to and from Saudi Arabia. They had access to weapons and cash. And they likely had assistance in planning and carrying out their shooting. Yet political correctness and Muslim sensitivity hijacked federal investigations that might have thwarted the attacks. This is one hole.

The other hole Obama sits in is his foolish immigration policy, as Trump and some of other Republican candidates have pointed out. A pause in Muslim immigration is exactly what’s needed -- stop digging. Our policies are obviously not working, with bride visas, refugee influx, or vetting. All Trump is saying is that we need to stop digging until we as a country figure out a more sensible immigration approach.

A pause in Muslim immigration is not about religious freedom and the First Amendment, but instead about opening our doors to people who are hostile to our American culture and want to change it. There is no constitutional right to immigrate to America. The real problem is Sharia, which is not a religion but instead is a legal and political system dictating all aspects of one’s public and private behavior. And those Muslim immigrants Trump is referring to? According to Pew Research, these immigrants are coming from countries where anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of Muslims believe in Sharia.

So what’s so bad about Sharia? Is it just another religious or lifestyle choice? Not quite. Under Sharia nonbelievers have a choice. “Convert, subjugate or die.” The San Bernardino couple recommended the final option. Is it wise to bring immigrants to America who subscribe to Sharia?

We are told that most Muslims are nonviolent. What does Pew Research say? 81 percent of U.S. Muslims believe, “Suicide bombing is never justified.” That’s a relief. Or is it? Flip it around and realize that 19 percent, or 1 in 5 believe suicide bombing is justified at certain times under certain circumstances. Not very comforting.

John Kerry tells us we will be accepting 100,000 Syrian refugees a year. Will all of these refugees be from Syria? Probably not, but instead from a collection of countries where the majority support sharia. Of the young Muslims in Europe, 20-40 percent, depending on country, believe suicide bombing may be justified. If even 1 percent of the Syrian refugees to the U.S. take their beliefs to fruition, that’s a thousand potential suicide bombers per year. San Bernardino was only two. Multiply that carnage by 500 and that’s what the administration may be welcoming to the U.S.

This is the hole we are in. Bringing in people with views contradictory to those of Americans, with no effective way of vetting them. Even FBI director James Comey acknowledges our inability to vet those arriving or already in the U.S. Yet the administration keeps digging, telling us that everything is fine, nothing to worry about, their processes are working.

Donald Trump is telling America the opposite, that the status quo is not working and instead is bringing harm to our shores. His rise in the polls after his recent comments indicate that many Americans also believe we are in a hole and the prudent course is to pause until we as a country figure this out.

The elites are in a lather over Trump’s remarks. Those in the heartland know otherwise, that America is in a hole over an out-of-control immigration policy. And that Trump is one of few that understand the first step is to stop digging.

Brian C Joondeph, MD, MPS, a Denver based retina surgeon and writer. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.