Fox News host Megyn Kelly and Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul got in a heated debate over the candidate’s opposition to bulk collection of phone data under the Patriot Act, with Kelly accusing him of “overstating” the case and Paul countering that he was defending the Constitution. (VIDEO: Rand Paul Snaps At Hostile CNBC Host: ‘Slanted… Full Of Distortions’)
“Your critics accuse you of overstating the case,” Kelly noted right off the bat. “For example, one of the things that you’ve said is that the NSA is spying on all your phone calls. And that’s not true, and it doesn’t have cell phone data in almost any case.”
“That’s actually not what I’ve said,” Paul responded. “I’ve been saying the NSA is collecting all of your phone records, and by connecting the dots of your phone records, they can determine your religion 85 percent of the time, who your physician is most of the time, what medicines you have. They can even tell when you go to the doctor, by interference, maybe what kind of procedures you’re having at your doctor’s office.”
“How?” she pressed. “The Wall Street Journal had a report that said the NSA is collecting records of at most 20 percent of U.S. calls. And in general, they do not look at cell phone records.”
“This program, this is what the critics outline– you get no names, no addresses, no personal identifying information, that the NSA doesn’t know you exist,” Kelly continued. “They just have phone numbers and only look further if the terrorist calls the number.”
Paul responded by citing the Framers. “The Founding Fathers didn’t like the idea of general warrants: warrants that didn’t have specific names on them, that were not individualized, that didn’t have any suggestion of suspicion, and that weren’t signed by an independent judge. That’s what the Fourth Amendment is about.” (VIDEO: Rand Paul On Info Obtained By Patriot Act: ‘I Think It Should Be Purged’ )
“So when we have one warrant and the name on it says ‘Verizon,’ and then they collect all the information from all the Americans that have phone records with Verizon, it doesn’t really seem to be consistent with the Fourth Amendment…” Paul added. “I actually, frankly, think it makes us less safe.”
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