Rand Paul: Rich are paying their fair share

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Sunday that the rich were paying their fair share in taxes and, in fact, were probably paying more than their fair share.

Paul pushed back against Democratic concerns that the wealthiest Americans were not paying enough in taxes.

"We have to start with the facts on whether the rich are paying their fair share. We hear that over and over again, 'the rich are not paying their fair share,'" Paul said on CNN's "State of the Union." “The top 1 percent, the millionaires in our country, pay on average 29 percent of their income. That's what they pay on average. The average carpenter who makes $50,000 to $75,000 a year pays between 15 percent and 18 percent. The top 50 percent of wage earners pay 96 percent of the income tax."

"The rich and the middle class are paying their fair share," Paul said, prompting host Candy Crowley to quip, "If they pay."

"The vast majority are, though. There are anomalies, there are aberrations," he replied.