The Senators quoted are Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, and Ben Sasse. IMO, Sasse said it best:

And on ABC’s This Week, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) lambasted Trump’s remarks and called on him to “show moral leadership about this issue.”

“Let’s be clear: Has the U.S. ever made any mistakes? Of course,” Sasse said. “Is the U.S. at all like Putin’s regime? Not at all. The U.S. affirms freedom of speech. Putin is no friend of freedom of speech. Putin an enemy of freedom of religion. The U.S. celebrates freedom of religion. Putin is an enemy of the free press. The U.S. celebrates free press. Putin is an enemy of political dissent. The U.S. celebrates political dissent and the right for people to argue free from violence about places where our ideas are in conflict.

Sasse continued: “I don’t understand what the president’s position is on Russia. But I can tell you what my position is on Russia: Russia is a great danger to a lot of its neighbors, and Putin has as one of his core objectives fracturing NATO, which is one of the greatest military alliances in the history of the world. And so Putin is a mess. He’s committed all sort of murderous thuggery, and I am opposed to the way Putin conducts himself in world affairs, and I hope that the president also wants to show moral leadership about this issue.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/05/gop-senators-blanch-at-trumps-latest-defense-of-putin/?postshare=7261486310319188&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.d51d143df402