Story highlights The Senate rejected an effort to repeal the 2001 and 2002 war authorizations

The vote on Sen. Rand Paul's amendment did not break down along party lines

(CNN) The Senate on Wednesday voted against an attempt from Sen. Rand Paul to repeal the 2001 and 2002 war authorizations the US military uses to fight terrorism across the globe.

The Senate voted 61-36 in a procedural motion to kill Paul's amendment, which would have repealed the two Authorizations for Use of Military Force after six months, giving Congress a window to draft a new, updated war authorization.

Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has argued that the 2001 and 2002 war authorizations -- which were passed to authorize military action against Al Qaeda and in Iraq -- are hopelessly out of date as the military focuses on fighting ISIS across the Middle East, a group that didn't exist at that time.

While Paul's amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was unsuccessful, he said it was a victory just to get the Senate to debate and take a vote on the war authorizations.

"It's the first time in 15 years to actually debate what our role is in declaring an initiation of war," Paul told reporters just before the vote. "The problem with waiting for the AUMF first, for a new authorization, is we've been waiting 16 years, and it's not coming without somebody giving somebody a kick in the seat in the pants."

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