RAND PAUL SAYS HE WILL DO “EVERYTHING HUMANLY POSSIBLE” TO ABOLISH PATRIOT ACT
"I call for the president to obey the law”
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has declared that he intends to do “everything humanly possible” to end the draconian Patriot Act, the legislation enacted after 9/11 that has led to mass government spying on Americans and all manner of other desecrations of liberty.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to stop it,” Paul said in a CNN interview.
Paul says he intends to filibuster the proposed reauthorization of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the specific area of the legislation used by the government to justify NSA snooping.
“I will do a formal filibuster. Whether or not that means I can go to the floor, some of that depends on what happens because you’re not always allowed,” Paul said.
Big Brother advocating Senate Republicans are pushing for the reauthorization of the legislation without any reform. The bill will need 60 votes in order to pass.
Speaking as to whether Paul would repeat his epic 13 hour speech on drone strikes from last year, the Senator stated “Nobody can predict how long you can talk, but I plan on doing everything humanly possible to try to stop the Patriot Act.”
“Whether that happens or not, I will filibuster the Patriot Act, and I’ll do everything I can to try to adhere to the courts — the courts have now said the bulk collection of records is illegal,” Paul urged, adding “They should stop immediately.”
Paul noted that it will be difficult to push for an end to the Patriot Act due to the fact that the lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee are somewhat untouchable.
“The people on our side who believe in the Constitution, Bill of Rights and privacy, we have a more difficult time though because they don’t give us the intelligence information,” he said.
“I can see very little. The Intelligence Committee gets to see 100 times more than I get to see, and the thing is [you’re] getting information given to you by people who believe in this bulk collection of records…so you’re only getting one side. We don’t get a two-sided evaluation of any of this.” Paul added.
Paul also warned about the overreach of government power in general.
“What Madison said about government, what Madison said about laws, is that if government were comprised of angels, we wouldn’t have to worry about giving them power,” the Senator said.
“Government will never be comprised of angels and that’s why whether there’s been an abuse or not, I worry about restraining power and making them.” Paul added.
In a further public appearance in Philadelphia Monday, Paul repeated his vow to end the Patriot Act, stating “Our Founding Fathers would be appalled to know that we are writing one single warrant and collecting everyone’s phone records all the time.”
“Here in front of Independence Hall, I call for the president to obey the law,” Paul said, as the crowd chanted“President Paul!”
“Somebody must stand up and say we will not let you tread on our Constitution or on our Bill of Rights,” Paul told the crowd.
A recent poll commissioned by the American Civil Liberties Union found that 60 percent of Americans oppose NSA mass spying, regardless of political affiliation, ideological beliefs, and age and gender divides.
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