

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) speaks at an event hosted by the Iowa GOP in Des Moines on Aug. 6. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) confirmed Wednesday that a week after the 2014 campaign season ends, he will be meeting with his closest aides and advisers in Washington — but dismissed talk that the meeting signals that he's on the verge of launching a presidential campaign.

"No," he insisted when asked on Wednesday if the Nov. 12 meeting is the first gathering of his presidential campaign team. "I spent the last year or so traveling the country trying to expand the Republican Party, trying to show that we need to compete for African-American votes, Hispanic votes, the youth vote. Going to places where Republicans haven’t gone. This will be a group of friends and aides who are interested in those same goals.

'We’ll talk about [the presidential decision] but it probably won’t be a specific conversation tied to a decision because I’ll tell them what I’ve been saying publicly: That a decision hasn’t been made yet."

But, he added later: "I want to be part of the debate."

Paul sidestepped questions about recent reports that friends and family are strongly urging former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to run for president. "I won’t get to make that decision. Everyone else will have to make that decision," he said. "... I think the public gets to decide, but the more the merrier."

The Kentucky senator spoke with The Washington Post on Wednesday in between stops in Michigan for Republican congressional candidates. The events come as he appears to be playing nice with the GOP establishment by making last-minute campaign stops in Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Kentucky for Republican candidates.

He'll headline a Michigan GOP dinner Wednesday night after campaigning on Tuesday with longtime Sen. Pat Roberts (R), who has been trying for weeks to woo Republican voters who fear he lost touch with them back into his corner. Providing an even bigger boost, Paul's super PAC, RAND PAC, is airing a new television ad through Election Day on the Kansas senator's behalf.

Paul will conclude his campaign travel on Monday in his home state of Kentucky, where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is also locked in a close reelection race. Paul predicted that the minority leader will easily win -- and then earn overwhelming support from Republicans to lead the Senate next year.

When McConnell wins on Election Night, said Paul, "it’ll be bigger than people have predicted so far. I think between 4 and 8 points." He said that he would vote for McConnell to serve as Senate majority leader if Republicans retake control of the chamber, adding that he didn't know of any GOP colleagues planning to challenge his state's senior senator for that position.

"I think we should vote for people in leadership who want to get things done, and I think Sen. McConnell has made very clear that he’s going to pass legislation," he added. "We’re not going to have anymore of Harry Reid’s gridlock, we’re not going to have any more games. Frankly, that’s the way historically the Senate worked is you got rid of gridlock by allowing the minority to participate. I will be one and I think Sen. McConnell will be also to let them participate."

Paul declined to criticize New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie for his recent decision to quarantine an American nurse returning from treating Ebola-stricken patients in West Africa, saying that he hadn't been closely tracking details of the incident.

He did add that "I do think that ultimately one of the primary rights that’s listed in our constitution is habeas corpus, so it’s hard to consider in a time even in a contagion where your habeas rights would be denied. So even if you’re going to have some kind of quarantine, people would have to have a right to protest that legally. I don’t know if all of that exists in what’s been set up so far."

Paul said that the federal government maintains a role "in controlling our borders and in keeping our country safe from infectious disease." But he once again faulted the Obama administration and officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for failing to provide clear instructions to state and medical officials about how to handle the disease.

"Some of the confusion has come because the CDC has been overly confident in their abilities and overly confident that they know what to do that they change their mind every couple of days. So I think that’s led to people not quite trusting them," he said.