Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul have found themselves on the opposite sides of the issue of government surveillance, a rare division for the two Kentucky Republicans.
McConnell has said he wants to move forward with "clean" legislation to reauthorize three portions of the Patriot Act, including the National Security Agency's (NSA's) surveillance powers. Paul has been vigorously critical of the law even though he hasn't been vocal about McConnell's plans, according to
The Hill.
"I think both McConnell and Paul realized all along in this deal that there were going to be issues where they just had to agree to disagree," Josh Withrow, legislative affairs manager at FreedomWorks, which opposes McConnell's Patriot Act bill, told The Hill. "This will probably be one of those."
McConnell has already committed to supporting Paul in the presidential election, describing him as "the most credible candidate for president of the United States since Henry Clay."
But their relationship will be tested in the coming weeks as the Senate takes up three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, which authorizes the National Security Agency's vast data collection program.
McConnell supports the extension of the law believing it is critical in the fight against terrorism, and he recently co-sponsored legislation that would renew the provisions until 2020.
"I think most likely the outcome is some kind of an extension," McConnell said this week, according to The Hill.
Paul has not yet spoken publicly about the legislation, but he has been vocally opposed to the NSA's surveillance program. Most recently, when announcing his candidacy for president last month, he said would
end the agency's bulk collection of Americans' phone records on his first day in office.
"The president created this vast dragnet by executive order. And as president, on Day One, I would immediately end this unconstitutional surveillance," he said.
And in November he said, "I have always been steadfast against the Patriot Act and I will continue to do all I can to prevent its extension," according to The Hill.
Observers expect that while Paul will ultimately oppose the legislation, he will avoid going head to head with McConnell.
"I would probably expect him to kick and scream without mentioning McConnell's name," said one person close to the situation, according to The Hill. "I do not expect Rand Paul to do anything other than theatrics, because he does not want to endanger his relationship with McConnell, and it is clear where McConnell stands."
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