Washington (CNN) Sen. Rand Paul told reporters Thursday he believes anyone with a security clearance who works at the White House should undergo a lie detector test to figure out who wrote the incendiary and anonymous op-ed published Wednesday in The New York Times.

"I think it's not unprecedented for people with security clearances to be asked to, whether or not they were revealing things against the law under oath and also by lie detector," the Kentucky Republican said on Capitol Hill. "We use a lie detector test routinely for CIA agents and FBI agents. I think if you have a security clearance in the White House, I think it would be acceptable to use a lie detector test and ask people whether they are talking to the media against the policy of the White House."

He continued: "This could be very dangerous if the person who is talking to the media is actually revealing national security secrets. So, yes, I think we need to get to the bottom of it."

The highest-ranking officials in the Trump administration have publicly denied that they or their offices authored the infamous opinion piece, an indication of how deeply the episode has shaken the White House.

The op-ed, written by a senior Trump administration official who says they are part of an internal "resistance" working to thwart parts of Trump's agenda and block his worst impulses, was published amid questions of President Donald Trump's fitness and his control over his administration.