GOP presidential hopeful Rand Paul talked to Dover residents about foreign policy, privacy and term limits at a quick stop at Harvey’s Bakery and Coffee Shop Monday.

SOMERSWORTH — GOP presidential hopeful Rand Paul talked to Dover residents about foreign policy, privacy and term limits at a quick stop at Harvey’s Bakery and Coffee Shop Monday.

The Republican senator from Kentucky also planned a stop a Week’s Backstreet Kitchen and town hall meetings in Laconia, Concord and Exeter.

Responding to a question about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Paul said one of the lessons the nation should have learned was that al-Qaida and Bin Laden came to power because of U.S. support for the Arabs fighting against the Soviets.

“I think the Soviets would have imploded in Afghanistan without our supporting the Arab resistance there.”

Paul said Afghanistan isn’t really a country and order cannot be maintained because no one has respect for the capitol. He said people have more allegiance to their tribe than their country.

“We have the same problem in Iraq,” Paul said. “We have two tribes who have been fighting forever.”

Paul said the way to push ISIS out is for the Sunni Muslim people to stand up and fight.

He said U.S. foreign policy needs to change. “… We need to get out of the business where we decide who runs each country in the Middle East,” he said.

Paul said when the U.S. toppled Muammar Gaddafi it created chaos and Libya is now a completely failed state where one third of the population pledges allegiance to ISIS.

“I think ISIS actually grew stronger because of our intervention in Libya,” Paul said. “I’m afraid that if you wipe out (Bashar al-Assad) Assad in Syria, ISIS will grow stronger.”

An advocate of civil liberties, Paul said more federal manpower needs to go to investigating terror suspects and the efforts need to be more targeted.

He told a story of two Iraq refugees who came to Kentucky and were planning an attack. He cited a few other examples where terror suspects could have been caught.

“We’re doing too much investigation of your phone records and not enough of individual terror suspects,” he said.

When asked why the U.S. House and Senate cannot agree on anything, Paul said the answer is term limits.

“The first bill I introduced when I got to Washington was term limits,” Paul said, “I think the ideal is 12 and 12….six years are too few, but 40 is too many.”

Paul said representatives should be required to work while in Congress so they are more in touch with the people they represent, dividing their time between Washington and home. He said he would also cut congressional pay in half.

Judith and Earl Custer spoke with Paul during Monday's visit. Judith she said she is a life-long Democrat and plans to vote for Hillary Clinton, but also said Paul is one of the more sensible and thoughtful among the Republican candidates.

The owner of Harvey’s, Pam Simpson, said she feels it is really important for candidates to have this type of one-on-one chat with voters.

“I think it is important for the candidates to get to know the people and not just speak to a large crowd all the time,” Simpson said. “I think it is very nice for them to give New Hampshire residents the opportunity.”