CNN, Washington :
That’s the name of a lawsuit the Kentucky senator announced Wednesday against President Barack Obama and national security officials over government surveillance.
“We don’t do this out of disrespect to anyone we do this out of respect to the Constitution,” Paul said at a news conference.
Paul’s class-action suit, filed in federal court in Washington, was spurred by Edward Snowden’s public disclosure last year that the NSA had gathered information on nearly every telephone call made in the United States since 2006.
At a news conference, Paul called the legal challenge “an important first step” to ending the program that sweeps up numbers and other information known as metadata.
With the suit, the son of Libertarian hero Ron Paul, who captured the hearts and minds of millions during his two presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012, is rounding out his political persona through his Libertarian roots and adding another spoonful of political savvy.
Paul v Obama in 2014 could be an effective way of helping Paul v the Democratic candidate in 2016, if he runs for President.
It’s no secret that Paul is considering such a step, but nothing’s official yet.
“I keep looking at my schedule and I see New Hampshire, I see Iowa, I see South Carolina and I don’t understand why I keep going to these states.” Paul said Sunday about the three key nominating states on Dallas TV station KXAS’s program “Lone Star Politics,” according to the Dallas Morning News.
Paul has crossover appeal on issues of war and national security that might help him down the road.
According to a January poll by Quinnipiac, 48% of American support the phone surveillance program and 47% oppose. Similarly, 48% say it’s necessary to keep Americans safe and 46% think it’s not necessary. Additional polls show the split does not cut along party lines.
