As this weekend revealed Edward Snowden to be the man who leaked details of the National Security Agency's program to collect data from Americans, on Monday evening "Piers Morgan Live" invited Ron Paul to share his reaction:

"He's [Snowden] done a great service, because he's telling the truth and this is what we are starved for. The American people are starved for the truth. And when you have a dictatorship or an authoritarian government, truth becomes treasonous," said Paul. "For somebody to tell the American people the truth is a heroic effort, and he knows that it's very risky, he knows he's committing civil disobedience, and he knows that he could get punished."

Speaking live with Piers Morgan, as a studio audience listened in, Paul went on to offer some advice for the man he once hoped to replace in Oval Office:

"Matter of fact, I think the president ought to send him a thank you letter," suggested the Texan. "The president ran on transparency, we're getting a lot of transparency now. Finally we're getting the president to fulfill his promise about transparency, so that's pretty exciting for me."

Watch the clip for more of Morgan's interview with former presidential candidate Ron Paul, and for the next edition of "Piers Morgan Live," watch CNN every night at 9.

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