Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said Sunday that he would “absolutely not” apologize to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for comments putting him on the same side as the radical terrorist group the Islamic State. King argued the senator’s filibuster last week forcing the temporary expiration of the anti-terror Patriot Act was nothing more than a fundraising tactic for his presidential campaign.
“What Rand Paul did was absolutely disgraceful,” King told “Fox News Sunday.” “The fact is 99 percent of the Senate wanted the debate to go forward. Rand Paul actually wanted to shut down the [National Security Agency] for several days serving no purpose other than for him to use it for fundraising for his presidential campaign.”
King said that Paul knew the legislation would be reauthorized regardless of his opposition and nevertheless sought to shut down the NSA for days, endangering American security. This went “beyond the limits” of rational debate, “violated his position as a senator” and was “shameful and disgusting,” King argued.
The libertarian-leaning Paul and the hawkish King have engaged in an increasingly bitter war of words over national security policy in recent weeks. Paul has argued that the Islamic State has benefited from the actions of hawkish lawmakers who backed arming Syrian rebels.
“ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately,” Paul said last month.
Last week, Paul used Senate parliamentary tactics to delay a vote on a bill to reauthorize the Patriot Act, resulting in its expiration.
During Paul’s filibuster, his staff took to social media to urge people to support him with campaign donations. One Twitter message said, “Tonight we stopped illegal NSA bulk data collection. Contribute to celebrate this victory.”
Later that week, the Senate passed a separate bill that reauthorized most of the act but ended the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone data records. King tweeted, “Today’s Senate vote is a victory for America, for freedom over ignorance, and defeat for ISIS, Edward Snowden & Rand Paul.”
