Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose affair was revealed by an investigation into his mistress, was a victim of the government’s intelligence overreach.

“They currently say that your emails after six months has no protection at all,” Paul said. “That’s how they got Petraeus having an affair – they looked at his emails after six months but they didn’t even need a warrant to look at his emails.”

Paul made the remarks to former White House senior advisor David Axelrod ina discussion at the University of Chicago about surveillance and Americans’ right to privacy.

Paul said that it was time for reform the surveillance process, suggesting that federal law authorities had too much power to investigate private communications separate from the judiciary.