CHARLES DHARAPAK / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., leaves the floor of the Senate early Thursday morning after his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be CIA director on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Democrats pushed Wednesday for speedy confirmation of John Brennan’s nomination to be CIA director but ran into a snag after Paul began a lengthy speech over the legality of potential drone strikes on U.S. soil. But Paul stalled the chamber to start what he called a filibuster of Brennan’s nomination.
WASHINGTON — The GOP has split over a Republican senator’s filibuster of President Barack Obama’s CIA nominee and claims about the use of drones in the Unites States.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul spoke for nearly 13 hours on Wednesday, demanding an answer from the administration on its authority to use lethal force and drones.
But Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham said Thursday that Paul’s claims were unfounded, and said the debate unnecessarily created fear among Americans.
Graham says Obama’s actions were similar to what Republican President George W. Bush did.
McCain scoffs at Paul’s suggestion that the U.S. would have attacked Jane Fonda when she traveled to North Vietnam during the war.
