Story highlights Rule is so rarely used the Senate Historian's Office scrambled to determine when it was last enforced

Republicans had discussed privately the Rule 19 issue before the floor debate on Jeff Sessions

(CNN) Senate Republicans Wednesday strongly defended their decision to employ a rarely-used and arcane Senate rule to cut off Sen. Elizabeth Warren late Tuesday, even though the move has turned into a publicity bonanza for the progressive senator and brought fresh attention to longstanding Democratic concerns about attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions.

"Last night we all witnessed a rather extraordinary event," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said after a heated debate and roll call vote that determined Warren had violated Senate Rule 19, that prohibits a senator from impugning another while on the floor. "I certainly agree with the ruling of the chair -- and the decision of the Senate as a body -- that line was crossed last night."

The rule is so rarely used the Senate Historian's Office scrambled to determine when it was last enforced. Sen Orrin Hatch, the longest serving Republican, said it had never happened in his forty years on the job defended it.

"We tolerated the speech, which was a harangue against Jeff Sessions," he said about Warren's speech. "Usually we as fellow senators don't treat fellow senators that way. That bothered me a lot."

Why it was used now

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