Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) – Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he has concerns about Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), who were both nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Justice Department and CIA, respectively, for their support of the USA Patriot Act.



“It does concern me, yes, but I would say that, with Pompeo, he’s going to have to also answer, to my liking, whether or not he’s still for torture, whether or not he’s for water-boarding. That’s important,” Paul said. “He’s also been for expanding NSA powers.”



“You have also been a vocal critic of what the government does to look into its citizens’ business, whether it’s bulk collection of data or wiretapping. What, given that mind-set, is your view about the elevation of Jeff Sessions to attorney general and Mike Pompeo into the CIA?” host John Dickerson asked.



“You know, I am a fierce advocate of privacy and think that you do have a right to privacy and that your records, whether they’re in the possession of the phone company or not, that you still retain a right of privacy in those records. We all sign privacy agreements every time we do a computer search with a computer search company or with a telephone company. So, I think we do have a right the privacy,” Paul said.



“I’m hopeful, but I also know that this president doesn’t necessarily agree with me on -- the next president - and so we will see. I will continue to be an equal opportunity defender of the Bill of Rights, whether it’s a Republican or Democrat president,” Paul added.



“But you don’t -- do you have any specific concerns with respect to Sessions or Pompeo?” Dickerson asked. “They both supported the Patriot Act, bulk collection of metadata.”



“Right. It does concern me, yes, but I would say that, with Pompeo, he’s going to have to also answer, to my liking, whether or not he’s still for torture, whether or not he’s for water-boarding. That’s important,” Paul said. “He’s also been for expanding NSA powers.



“Many of the NSA powers were done, I think, in secret without the knowledge of most members of Congress. Even some members who were authors or co-authors of the Patriot Act said, we never intended for them to collect all that data in Utah, and they didn’t tell us,” Paul added.



“So, one of my questions for Pompeo will be, are there secret programs that even Congress doesn’t know about? And I think there still are programs ongoing that the bulk of Congress is not aware of,” Paul said.