Rand Paul has long supported a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. AP President Donald Trump reportedly singled out Republican Sen. Rand Paul during a dinner with GOP senators on Monday night, criticizing the libertarian-leaning lawmaker for his opposition to the Senate's healthcare bill.

After the bill was sunk by opposition from the conservative and moderate wings of the Republican Party, Trump complained that Paul had gone out of his way to publicize his discontent with the bill, and he derided the senator's TV appearances as unnecessary grandstanding, according to a New York Times report. Paul was not at the dinner.

Trump said that while it was one thing to vote against the bill, it was another to "go on all of the Sunday shows and complain about it," according to The Times.

Paul responded on "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, defending his relationship with the president and holding firm on his rejection of the bill, which would have repealed and replaced the Affordable Care Act, the law better known as Obamacare.

"I think the president and I have a good relationship — I've been one of his strongest defenders. I will continue to defend him against mainstream-media attacks," Paul said. "But on issues of substance like healthcare, he knows where I'm coming from. ... I was at the first tea parties saying that Obamacare was a mistake and we should repeal it."

The bill fell apart on Monday night when two GOP senators — Jerry Moran of Kansas and Mike Lee of Utah — joined Paul and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in rejecting it, tipping the scales against its passage.

Paul has long supported a full repeal of the ACA and advocates repealing the law before negotiating legislation to replace it.

When Trump tweeted on Monday that the Senate should repeal now and replace later, Paul implied he had helped persuade the president to change his mind on the issue, tweeting that he and Trump had discussed a "clean repeal now!"

Paul emphasized during his Wednesday interview that he and the president agreed that Republicans should abandon Obamacare.

"I agree with the president: Obamacare's a disaster, but it's the Democrats' creation, and all the problems of its unraveling belong to Democrats," Paul said, arguing that any Republican bill that wouldn't fully repeal the ACA would leave the GOP with the blame for the law's failure.

This isn't the first time Paul has drawn Trump's ire for his position on healthcare. In March, amid House Republicans' negotiation of their ACA replacement bill, the president called out Paul on Twitter after the senator criticized it as "Obamacare Lite."

"I feel sure that my friend @RandPaul will come along with the new and great health care program because he knows Obamacare is a disaster!" Trump tweeted.

Paul said at the time that he felt "emboldened" by the president's pressure and criticism.

"I don't feel isolated by this. I actually feel emboldened," Paul told Politico at the time, arguing that the tweet signaled the White House was open to negotiating with proponents of a clean repeal of the ACA.

Paul and Trump began their relationship on rocky footing during the 2016 presidential primaries. After the first Republican debate in August 2015, Trump called Paul "truly weird" and criticized his performance.

"Truly weird Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky reminds me of a spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain," Trump tweeted. "He was terrible at DEBATE!"

Paul struck back at Trump, calling him a "fake conservative."

Watch Paul's interview: