Most of the Senate floor cleared Sunday night as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, stood up to denounce the Patriot Act and the proposed USA Freedom Act. But I witnessed Paul’s supporters filling a good portion of the public gallery, so the senator was not speaking to just the nearly empty floor.

They were the same group that was supporting Paul on the Capitol steps and had watched his filibuster the week before. These supporters belong to a Facebook group called District of Columbia for Rand Paul. The group claims more than 50 members, and its affiliated page has over 700 likes.