Rand Paul says presidential decision imminent

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said Friday that he is "leaning toward" getting involved in the presidential race and will make his decision in March or April.

Speaking following a discussion on criminal justice reform at Sullivan University, Paul said he is trying to determine if his brand of Libertarian politics is catching on with GOP voters, and his family members are still determining if they are ready for the rigors of a national campaign.

"We haven't made a firm commitment on exactly what we're going to do," Paul said. "... I have been traveling the country, presenting the message and trying to say, 'You know what? Maybe a different kind of Republican might be the kind of Republican that could win an election.' "

Paul has spent the last year traveling frequently to early caucus and primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Several news outlets, citing unnamed sources close to Paul, have said he is hoping to make his announcement April 7.

Paul declined to confirm the April 7 target date but that time frame would likely make him the first candidate to jump into the race, allowing him to begin raising money for his bid.

That isn't to say that Paul's not raising money already. Among myriad stops in Kentucky this week, he held a fundraising event Thursday night in Anchorage where donors gave between $500 and $5,000 to attend. That money is to be divided between his Senate re-election campaign and his political action committee, called RANDPAC.

What is unclear, however, is how Paul would run for both the Senate and president and appear on the ballot for both in his home state.

Kentucky has a law that prohibits candidates from appearing on the ballot for two offices in most cases.

Paul said Friday he believes that the law can't apply to federal races because qualifications for those races are defined in the U.S. Constitution. But he likely would need a court to rule on whether that argument holds legal water, as Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes has said she would leave it to the courts to decide the issue.

Meanwhile, Paul has asked the Republican Party of Kentucky's Central Committee to vote on March 7 in Bowling Green to select its presidential election delegates by caucus rather than by primary election. If the committee does that, it would solve the problem for the primary election but would cause a huge headache for the general election if Paul wins the presidential nomination or winds up as a vice presidential candidate.

Kentucky law doesn't allow parties to replace candidates on the ballot after the primary election unless their candidate dies, becomes disabled or is ruled ineligible to hold the office. That means that if Paul were on the presidential ticket and was not allowed to run for both, Democrats would most likely win his Senate seat in a walkover.

Paul said he wants to go the caucus route because it would at least solve his problem for the primary election, and he said he'll worry about the general election problem later. He said he doesn't want to file suit, in part, because he doesn't believe he has standing to do so and because a court case could be drawn out, expensive and he could ultimately lose.

"It's less expensive and less lengthy," he said. "Just ask your fellow party members, and you have a better chance asking your fellow party members than you do in the judiciary.

"... While we think the legal case is very strong, we're obviously not positive so it would be an uncertain thing that would cost millions of dollars and probably last another year or two," he said.

And because he hasn't yet filed for office and can't file in Kentucky before November, Paul said it's unclear if the courts would even let him sue to overturn the state law at this point.

"Courts are difficult," he said. "Courts don't like to hear things if you don't have standing," he said.

Paul favors raising retirement age

Earlier in the day, Paul, speaking to the Young Professionals of Louisville, said he favors raising the retirement age to 70 and requiring means testing before people can receive Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Paul also said that he favors directly arming Kurds and suggested that the world should consider creating a Kurdish homeland in the northern part of Iraq and Syria, where the Kurds already control a large area.

Paul didn't go into detail but he has supported a plan in Congress that would increase the retirement age gradually for people born after 1970 and reduce benefits for the wealthy.

The Social Security Trust Fund is on pace to run dry in 2037 unless some changes are made.

Senate Democrats have opposed immediate efforts to reform Social Security but President Barack Obama has supported a plan that would raise the retirement age to 70 by the year 2075. Paul's plan would increase the retirement age to 70 in about 2040.

On foreign affairs, Paul called for providing arms directly to Kurdish fighters and carving a new Kurdish homeland out of parts of Iraq and Syria.

"These are good fighters and they're going to fight, particularly if you tell them you're going to give them a homeland," he said.

He added that it will take Muslims, and not outsiders, to defeat ISIS.

"Civilized Islam is going to have to rise up to defeat the barbaric aberration that is ISIS," he said.