Former New York Gov. George Pataki criticized Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for his efforts to kill three key provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire at midnight.
“It’s simply putting Americans at risk for political reasons,” Pataki said on CNN Sunday. “I think he’s wrong. I don’t understand why, if it’s going to happen on Wednesday or Thursday, he doesn’t allow it to happen today.”
Pataki, like Paul, is running for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
On Sunday, lawmakers return to Capitol Hill to attempt to figure out what to do about the expiring provisions. Paul has vowed to use Senate rules to block voting on the USA Freedom Bill — which passed in the House — and would allow for renewal of the provisions.
“It’s just, to me, totally wrong that the filibuster would be used to create this void in our security at a time when we are at risk,” Pataki, who was governor of New York during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, said. “We’re at greater risk today than we’ve been at any time since Sept. 11 of another terrorist attack.”
