The USA Freedom Act, a measure extending some elements of the controversial PATRIOT Act while ending bulk collection of phone data, passed Tuesday night without the support of Kentucky’s two leading Republicans. But Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul cast their no votes for very different reasons.
Debate over the proper scope of NSA power has highlighted the high-profile split between the two Kentucky lawmakers – and much of that tension centers on differing interpretations of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader McConnell argued bulk collection is the prerogative of phone companies: "...these are the provider’s records, which is not what the Fourth Amendment speaks to. It speaks to the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects."
But list should now extend to phone data, according to Sen. Paul.
"Little by little, we've allowed our freedom to slip away," the 2016 president candidate said on the Senate floor during the Senate debate over the bill. "We allowed the Fourth Amendment to be diminished."
In the end, neither lawmaker found the USA Freedom Act palatable – with McConnell arguing the bill did not go far enough to keep Americans safe from terrorist attacks and Paul worried the measure still fails to pass constitutional muster.
