Get up stand up
Rand Paul launches pseudo-filibuster of Patriot Act
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday took to the Senate floor vowing to speak "so long as my legs can stand" to prevent the renewal of the Patriot Act.
"I will not let the Patriot Act, the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged," Paul said.
Though Paul cast the speech as a filibuster of the Patriot Act's reauthorization, that's not technically accurate because the Senate is not yet seeking cloture on that debate; lawmakers are awaiting a Thursday cloture vote on a trade bill, which prevents Paul from speaking indefinitely. So unlike Paul's 13-hour filibuster of John Brennan's nomination to head the CIA in 2013, the senator and 2016 candidate's latest gambit is "best described as an extended oration about the Fourth Amendment," according to Roll Call.