Quote the section of the 14th amendment that mentions natural born citizens. I won’t hold my breath, because it is not there.
There are at least two classes of citizens: Born and naturalized. Anyone born on US soil (and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” which excludes foreign diplomats) is a US citizen at birth. Is that the same thing as a natural born citizen? In some legal theories, yes. A citizen at birth is a natural born citizen. All other citizens are naturalized.
Some legal theories recognize a third category, someone who is a citizen at birth but not a natural born citizen. They will quote Vattel and Minor v. Happersett and US v. Wong Kim Ark, which address the question in passing and not as part of the ruling, but SCOTUS has never ruled directly on the question. Some theorize further that only the child of two citizen parents, regardless of location of birth, is a natural born citizen.
Whether Ted Cruz was a citizen at birth, born on foreign soil to one US citizen and one non-citizen parent, would depend on US immigration laws at the time of his birth (and in no way on Canadian citizenship laws). If he was a citizen at birth, whether he was a natural born citizen is an issue that will be debated on Free Republic long after everyone reading this is dead.
There is no difference in law between a Citizen of the United States At Birth and a Natural Born Citizen.
Under the law in effect when Ted Cruz was born, he is a Citizen of the United States At Birth.
Acquisition of U.S. Citizenship by a Child Born Abroad
Birth Abroad to One Citizen and One Alien Parent in Wedlock
“A child born abroad to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent acquires U.S. citizenship at birth under Section 301(g) of the INA provided the U.S. citizen parent was physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for the time period required by the law applicable at the time of the child’s birth. (For birth on or after November 14, 1986, a period of five years physical presence, two after the age of fourteen, is required. For birth between December 24, 1952 and November 13, 1986, a period of ten years, five after the age of fourteen, is required for physical presence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child.) The U.S. citizen parent must be genetically related to the child to transmit U.S. citizenship.”
According to Justice Antonin Scalia with Justice Clarence Thomas concurring in Scalia’s opinion in Miller v. Albright, 523 U.S. 420 (1998),
“The 14th Amendment contemplates two sources of citizenship, and two only: birth and naturalization.” That’s a quote from US v. Wong Kim Ark.
If you don’t have Scalia and Thomas, you can’t win with a Vattel/Minor theory at the Supreme Court.