John McCain calls Rand Paul's stand against the Patriot Act 'a fundraising exercise'

GOP senators aren't happy with Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) successful plan to let key provisions of the Patriot Act expire on Sunday night. In interviews with Politico, some even suggested Paul was taking a hard stance against the NSA's bulk collection of phone records in order to raise more money for his 2016 presidential campaign.

"I know what this is about — I think it's very clear — this is, to some degree, a fundraising exercise," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told Politico. "He obviously has a higher priority for his fundraising and political ambitions than for the security of the nation."

Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) expressed similar sentiments to Politico, saying that Paul was "lying" in order to raise campaign money. Paul didn't hear his fellow senators' criticisms, though, because he didn't attend an hour-long Senate meeting Sunday about the Patriot Act's expiring sections.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"I don’t stand with Rand on this," Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) told Politico.