President Obama's handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico got a boost of sorts from an unlikely source: Republican Ron Paul.

The Texas congressman, known for his libertarian world view, said on the Don Imus show today on Fox Business News that he believes attacks on Obama's response to the oil spill have been too harsh. "I just don't see the justification for coming down hard on the president," Paul said.

Paul said the criticism of Obama "represents the idea that the American people think the president is everything to everybody, that he can fix an oil leak. Somebody says 'well, the government should do more.' I say I'm in the government and I don't know anything about fixing oil leaks."

Paul, who described himself as a "pretty strong critic" of Obama, also added that he thought criticisms of President George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina were "overkill."

Some Republicans have not been kind to the Obama administration's response to the oil spill. On Sunday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, said on ABC's This Week that he thought "there could have been a greater sense of urgency." Other Louisiana politicians and Gulf Coast residents have also criticized the administration in this recent USA TODAY article.

Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said Paul's remarks are in line with his libertarian values, telling USA TODAY that "libertarians tend to minimize their expectations of governments."

Ron Paul is not the first member of his family to speak out about Obama's handling of the oil spill. His son, Rand Paul, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, said on ABC's Good Morning America last month that Obama's criticism of British Petroleum, the company that caused the spill, was "un-American."

(Reported by Naomi Jagoda)