The Affordable Care Act was the subject of a hot button Supreme Court case last year. It was a dominant issue in both the 2010 and 2012 elections. House Republicans have voted more than 40 times to repeal the law. But as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) sees it, there hasn’t been a robust debate over the law since it passed Congress in 2010.

During an appearance Tuesday on CNN’s “New Day,” Paul credited Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) recent 21-hour talkathon for initiating what he said was an overdue discussion about the law.

“You know, I think it was helpful to talk more about it,” Paul said. “We haven’t had a big debate about Obamacare really since it passed in Congress. And so I think it was helpful to have the debate.”

The government shutdown that began Tuesday morning was largely a result over the efforts by Republicans like Cruz and Paul to defund the Affordable Care Act in exchange for funding the government.

A poll released Tuesday showed that a huge majority of Americans were opposed to shutting down the government over the health care law.

The marketplace exchanges under the Affordable Care Act went live on Tuesday, with scores of visitors overwhelming the government’s website.