Wydennsa.jpg.png

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., seen in this screenshot from C-Span, speaks in opposition to extending the government program that collects bulk telephone data from millions of Americans.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden on Wednesday crossed party lines to aid Sen. Rand Paul after the Kentucky Republican launched a filibuster-like effort aimed at blocking renewal of a law that has allowed the government to collect telephone data from millions of Americans.

Democrat Wyden and Paul have both vowed to do whatever they can to block renewal of the Patriot Act's surveillance provisions, which expire on June 1.

Paul, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, began talking at 1:18 p.m. with the intention of going through the night. Wyden, one of the Senate's staunchest critics of the government's surveillance programs, was the first senator to give Paul a breathing spell by taking to the floor to ask a series of lengthy questions.

Wyden told the Senate that he and Paul agree "it is a very dangerous world...but what doesn't make sense is to be pursuing approaches that don't make us safer and compromise our liberties."

Technically speaking, Paul was not conducting a filibuster. He actually took over the floor during debate over trade legislation. But he's attempting to use a filibuster-like technique to complicate efforts by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to bring up the Patriot Act for renewal instead of moving forward with a House-passed bill that would end the bulk collection of phone data.

Wyden had long criticized the bulk surveillance program during secret deliberations as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. But he was barred from discussing the classified program until its existence was revealed in 2013 by Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor who leaked records to journalists and is now living as a U.S. fugitive in Russia.

Wyden said in a telephone interview that "Sen. Paul is going to be out there a long time" on the Senate floor and that he would help his Kentucky colleague again if needed. Wyden said that reports from top government officials demonstrate that the government can collect the data it needs by going to phone companies to gain records involving suspicious individuals.

Paul launched a similar eye-catching filibuster in early 2013 -- this time on the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director -- to protest U.S. policy on drone warfare. Wyden said he supported Brennan's nomination but he came to the floor to give Paul a respite and said he agreed that there needed to be more oversight of how drones are used in targeted killings.

--Jeff Mapes

503-221-8209

@Jeffmapes