Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul is still stopping short of saying whether he plans to seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, even though he has pushed for a bill back home in his state legislature to allow him to run for both the Senate and the presidency at the same time.
"We're definitely talking about it," Paul told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace. "My family's talking about and we're doing the things that would be necessary to make sure that it can happen and will work."
However, he told Wallace, "I haven't made my mind up and won't make it up until after the 2014 elections."
But meanwhile, he is working to "bring our message to minority voters, people who have been persecuted, young people," and he believes his libertarian-leaning message can help grow the Republican Party so it can win elections.
Legislation introduced this past Thursday in Kentucky clarifies that current Kentucky law, which prevents someone running for multiple offices, does not apply to federal elections, said Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer.
"He (Paul) is the impetus for it, but it could affect anyone in the federal delegation," said Thayer, R-Georgetown, who introduced the bill in the GOP-led state Senate.
Thayer said he was approached by Paul's staff about the legislation and later spoke with the freshman senator about it.
Paul and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are often mentioned as being top potential candidates in 2016, and on Saturday, a straw poll held at the Conservative Political Action Conference
picked Paul as its top contender for the second year running.
On Sunday's show, Paul reiterated his belief in the need to attract the youth vote back to the Republican Party.
"I believe passionately in the Bill of Rights, and the Fourth Amendment [protection from illegal searches and seizures] to me is just as important as the Second," he said. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama, who won the youth vote by a 3-1 margin in 2012, has been seeing his numbers drop, and the "youth have lost faith in this president."
As a result, "I think there's a real opportunity for Republicans who do believe in the Fourth Amendment to grow our party and bring that [youth] energy into our party."
Paul has also faced some criticism in recent weeks for his lunch meeting plans with Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss lowering mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders, but the Kentucky lawmaker said meeting with leaders from the opposite side of the table should not be criticized.
"What we need in Washington are people who believe in their principles so strongly they are able to talk to people on the other side, said Paul. There are people who were arrested 30 years ago for growing marijuana in their dorm rooms who now don't have the right to vote, including in Kentucky, and Paul think they should be able to vote again.
Paul also addressed the Ukrainian crisis and his statements concerning some in the country still having a Cold War mentality when it comes to Russia.
But, he said that some of his other comments weren't widely used, in which he noted if Ukraine would come "almost completely within the western orbit" if Russia annexes the Crimean Peninsula.
But Putin needs warned, "and I'm perfectly willing to tell him" that if he occupies Ukraine it willl mean chaos for him and the world.
And Paul said if he was in charge, "I would immediately get every obstacle out of the way for our oil and gas in order to supply Europe in case it is stopped by Ukraine.
Paul describes his foreign policy as coming from the "mainstream" of the GOP position, and that he opposed "with real fervor our involvement in Syria."
But, he emphasized, he's still a "big believer" in Ronald Reagan's policies, and people who want to argue he's different from mainstream Republicans "are people who want to take advantage for their own personal political gain."