Rand Paul Promises To Derail NSA Vote [View all]

[Purveyor]

Source: CNN

By Allie Malloy, CNN
Updated 2:40 PM ET, Sat May 30, 2015

Washington (CNN)Sen. Rand Paul is not backing down on his pledge to end major provisions of the Patriot Act, warning on Saturday that he will keep up his fight as the Senate readies for a rare Sunday session.

"There has to be another way," the Kentucky Republican tweeted. "We must find it together. So tomorrow, I will force the expiration of the NSA illegal spy program."

The National Security Agency's authorities -- which, among other powers, allow the agency to collect telephone data on millions of Americans and store that data for five years -- will end at midnight Sunday unless the Senate approves an extension.

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Paul and his allies are limited in their ability to derail the legislation altogether. But their opposition to any bill authorizing the programs would mean the Senate would be stuck in many hours of debate -- perhaps lasting days -- before anything could be passed by majority vote because of complex Senate procedural rules. By then, the authorities would have lapsed and the government would need time to get them back online.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/30/politics/rand-paul-nsa-senate-vote/