Reporter fact-checks anonymous source's claim that Ted Cruz always planned to return to Texas on Thursday

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has been receiving a great deal of criticism this week for visiting Cancun, Mexico at a time when his state is being pummeled by record cold temperatures and widespread power outages. An anonymous source, in the senator's defense, said that he only went to Cancun to make sure his family got there safely — a claim that a reporter has fact-checked.

That source said, "Ted Cruz has always planned on returning to Texas today. He wanted to insure his family to arrive safely in Cancun. Sen. Cruz' priority is to address the ongoing power and energy issue for the safety and concern (of) his fellow Texans."

CNN, on Thursday, reported, "Multiple Twitter users posted photos showing Cruz and his family at Houston's airport and aboard a flight bound for Cancun, Mexico. The same person familiar with the trip confirmed to CNN that Cruz is booked on a flight from Cancun back to Houston on Thursday afternoon. The trip was immediately criticized, including by Texas state Rep. Gene Wu, a Democrat representing southwest Houston, who tweeted a photo of Cruz aboard a flight, saying Cruz was flying south 'while the state was freezing to death and having to boil water.'"

The Houston Police Department, according to NBC News, has confirmed to them that the senator's staff contacted them on Wednesday afternoon to help him with his arrival in Houston and with passing through Houston's airport. A spokesperson for the Houston Police Department told NBC News, "They reached out to us, let us know that he was going to be arriving — and could we assist. So, upon arrival to the Houston Airport, we monitored his movements."

Reporter Edward Russell, meanwhile, tweets:

Cruz, in response to the Cancun controversy, has issued an official statement:

But according to some Twitter users, that statement doesn't make Cruz look any better: