Republican Rand Paul steps down after more than 10 hours in bid to halt the federal government’s collection of its citizens’ phone records

Two years after rising to national prominence with a 13-hour talking filibuster against drones, Rand Paul has made another marathon speech on the floor of the US Senate – only this time in a bid to halt the federal government’s mass surveillance of Americans’ phone records and to derail an extension of the Patriot Act.



Paul spent a total of 10 hours and 30 minutes on Wednesday calling for an end to the National Security Agency’s dragnet surveillance tactics, eating up one of just three legislative days remaining before lawmakers go on recess till 1 June – the same day that key provisions of the Patriot Act are due to expire.



But by stepping aside just before the clock struck midnight, Paul, at least for now, did not meaningfully affect the Senate schedule or block the Patriot Act from moving forward.

The Senate thus looked poised to return to business as usual on Thursday, with a packed two-day schedule that included advancing trade legislation, a highway funding bill and resolving the Patriot Act impasse.



Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has been pushing for a two-month extension of the Patriot Act in its current form – an approach that Paul and other senators who joined his talkathon deemed “unacceptable”.



The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly last week for legislation known as the USA Freedom Act, which would end the bulk phone and metadata collection.



Paul expressed concerns on the floor that the House-passed bill does not go far enough, but indicated his preference for a debate on the USA Freedom Act over a straight reauthorization of the Patriot Act.



Several lawmakers from both parties aided Paul as the hours went by, including Oregon senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat who has long criticized the NSA’s surveillance methods, and Utah senator Mike Lee, a Republican and co-sponsor of the USA Freedom Act.



In an unexpected twist, Texas senator Ted Cruz and Florida senator Marco Rubio – also GOP presidential candidates and among Paul’s main rivals – were both scheduled to preside over the Senate floor on Wednesday night and thus wound up in midst of the action.



While Rubio, a staunch defender of the NSA, did not participate in Paul’s gambit, Cruz made brief remarks in which he commended Paul “for his passionate defence of liberty”.



“His is a voice that this body needs to listen to,” Cruz said. “If defenders of the Patriot Act are so confident … they should be prepared to debate the senator from Kentucky on the merits.”



There was a degree of irony to the moment, given Paul’s 2016 campaign spent much of the day fundraising from the event and rallying its supporters, while a pro-Paul Super Pac even poked fun at Cruz over Twitter.



America's LibertyPAC (@LibertyPAC) We don’t think this guy should be reading your emails. RT if you agree and #StandWithRand pic.twitter.com/9N0nmervcY

But Cruz, a co-sponsor of the USA Freedom Act, acknowledged that while he and Paul “don’t agree entirely” on the issue, they both agreed that a robust debate must be had as opposed to simply extending the current law.



“A clean reauthorization of the Patriot Act ain’t passing this body and certainly ain’t passing the House,” Cruz said.



Paul made similar comments earlier in the day after launching his revolt against the Patriot Act, which he referred to as “the most unpatriotic of acts” in his opening statement.



“At the very least,” he said, “we should debate, we should debate whether or not we are going to relinquish our rights or whether or not we are going to have a full and able debate over whether or not we can live within the constitution or whether or not we have to go around the constitution.”



He spent much of the day laying out his case against warrantless surveillance, deviating only briefly to address another one of his pet issues – criminal justice reform.



Most of his time was nonetheless spent citing “fear and complacency” as the government’s rationale for invading the privacy of its citizens. The Kentucky senator even called on Barack Obama to end the NSA’s bulk collection via executive order, an option that the White House has shown no interest in pursuing.



Ultimately, it was unclear if Paul would object to any agreement reached in the Senate that would open a pathway for at least a short-term renewal of the Patriot Act.



Republican leaders insisted on Wednesday that would be the mostly likely resolution for now, noting that the USA Freedom Act would likely fall short of the 60 votes needed to pass.



As he left his post, Paul simply said he had “accomplished something” with his takeover of the floor. Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, he gave a nod to the bipartisan support for his efforts and concluded he was “tired … and ready to go home”.

