Senators flash anger at Paul — and vice versa He “needs to learn the rules of the Senate,” McCain snipes.

Tempers are flaring in the Senate.

With lawmakers slated to take procedural votes later this evening on a bill to reform the PATRIOT Act, Sens. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) refused to yield the floor to fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who has promised to force a sunset of key parts national security law. The spat prompted a terse back-and-forth during a rare Sunday session prompted by Paul’s refusal earlier this month to allow votes on the issue.


With dozens of Senate onlookers donning “Stand with Rand” T-Shirts, Paul tried to interject as Coats and McCain were speaking in defense of of the National Security Agency. But McCain and Coats wouldn’t yield the floor.

Paul “needs to learn the rules of the Senate,” McCain sniped at the Kentucky Republican.

The dust-up is just the latest sign of discontent over Paul’s willingness to grind the Senate to a halt — annoyance that’s particularly on display among seasoned lawmakers and defense hawks like McCain.

When Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who was presiding over the chamber, said later that time for debate had expired, Paul was incensed. He said he had not gotten to speak and argued the time had been miscounted, even calling for a roll call vote to challenge Grassley’s rulings. Paul ultimately was allowed to speak for a few minutes, but not before McCain objected again to Paul speaking, and the typically tranquil Grassley raised his voice.

After the spat, Coats — who was previously lamenting lies told about the NSA by unnamed members of the Senate — walked over to talk to the visibly agitated Paul and said he wasn’t trying to silence the Kentucky senator. But Paul appeared uninterested in Coats’ explanation, and the conversation — audible in the Senate balcony reserved for reporters — ended with a wave of the hand and “whatever” from Paul.

McCain, standing a handful of desks away, looked on chuckling.

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