Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Ben Carson led conservatives in a rally against Planned Parenthood Tuesday, following the publication of three videos detailing the organization's sale of organs harvested from aborted fetuses.

"Today the U.S. Department of Justice should open a criminal investigation into whether Planned Parenthood nationally is a criminal enterprise breaking the law," Cruz said on the lawn on the Capitol. But the Texas senator was skeptical this would happen, adding "the Obama Justice Department in acting as little more than a partisan arm of the Democratic National Committee."

Cruz is backing Sen. Mike Lee's, R-Utah, attempt to eliminate federal funding for Planed Parenthood. The measure was blocked by Senate leadership over the weekend, a move that Cruz called "altogether unacceptable."

The junior senator from Texas also called for an investigation of Planned Parenthood's local affiliates, a congressional hearing, and urged the media to stand up to Democratic candidates who support Planned Parenthood.

"I call on mainstream media to ask Hillary Clinton if she is pleased that she has so much passionate support from Planned Parenthood, an entity that appears to be a national criminal enterprise," Cruz said to much applause.

While Cruz's remarks were a hit with the crowd, for many Ben Carson was the real star of the show. His advance teamed handed out materials with the candidate's face on it.

"He says what needs to be said without fear of losing votes. He has on several occasion said things like its never wrong to do the right thing,' and we have political leaders who don't even understand what he's talking about," said Bill Hatfield, a Carson supporter who was visiting from Illinois. "He has ethics, standards and morals."

Carson also decried Planned Parenthood, expressing concern that a "politically correct society" was losing its moral bearings.