Fort Meade, UNITED STATES: (FILES): This 25 January 2006 file photo shows the National Security Agency (NSA) in the Washington suburb of Fort Meade, Maryland, where US President George W. Bush delivered a speech behind closed doors and met with employees in advance of Senate hearings on the much-criticized domestic surveillance. The US National Security Agency has assembled the world's largest database of telephone records tracking the phone calls of tens of millions of AT and T, Verizon and BellSouth customers, sources familiar with the program told USA Today. In an article published 11 May 2006, the daily said the NSA launched the secret program in 2001, shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks, to analyze calling patterns in a bid to detect terrorist activity. AFP PHOTO/FILES/Paul J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
Edward Snowden: hero or traitor? Lawmakers sound off
01:27 - Source: CNN
Washington CNN  — 

Sen. Rand Paul is standing by his opposition to the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone data, saying his position is “about protecting us against systemic bias.”

“It’s not about the President. It’s not about members of my party. It’s about the law,” the Kentucky Republican said Tuesday night.

His comments came during a brief speech at the Strand Book Store in New York City, where Paul was signing copies of his newly released third book, “Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America.”

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He touted his work with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon to block legislation last week extending the NSA’s authority, bucking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and President Barack Obama in doing so.

Paul pointed to a long list of historical blunders – including the United States’ internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s monitoring of civil rights leaders and its tracking of Vietnam War protestors as examples.

The Constitution binds the power of the government, Paul said, “because power tends to corrupt.”

“The debate over whether a law is constitutional, the debate over whether a warrant is valid, should be happening in the open,” he said.

Paul also offered a comment on Edward Snowden, whose leaks of classified information exposed the breadth of NSA monitoring activities, linking him with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

“Snowden and Clapper should be in the same cell, talking about liberty and security,” he said.

Wyden’s wife, Nancy Bass Wyden, owns the book store where Paul spoke Wednesday night.