Rand Paul: I'll Take Privacy Fight to Supreme Court
Sunday, 08 Dec 2013 06:45 PM
He said he's willing to "fight that all the way to the Supreme Court" if necessary.
"I would like to apply the Fourth Amendment to third-party records," Paul said on "Fox News Sunday" "I don’t think you give up your privacy when someone holds your records, so when I have a contract with a phone company, I think those are still my records, and you can look at them if you’re from the government if you ask a judge."
Paul is known for a libertarian streak he inherits from his father, former Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
The NSA admitted to tracking up to 5 billion cellphones around the globe daily, and some of them are in the United States. But the agency said the actions are legal under a White House order that governs espionage.
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Paul was not convinced, telling Fox News that the under the Fourth Amendement, which prohibits searches and seizures without a warrant, a judge must grant a warrant for each individual case, not a sweeping permission for every cellphone.
"So it’s absolutely against the spirit and the letter of the Fourth Amendment to say that a judge can write one warrant and you can get every phone call in America, and that’s what’s happening," Paul said.
"I think it’s wrong. It goes against everything America stands for, and I will help fight that all the way to the Supreme Court, and we need to get the Supreme Court to re-examine privacy, the Fourth Amendment and our records."
Paul said he is less concerned about private companies, such as Amazon, which recently announced it is working on a system of making some deliveries to homes via unmanned drone helicopters. Still, he noted, there should be rules to ensure cameras on those drones are not able to peer into private homes and backyards.
Paul also said t he is "seriously thinking about" running for president in 2016.
One big consideration, he said, is family.
"Just look at what happens daily to any politician in America, and you talk about how uncivil things are — I mean, they really are, and they do take a toll on family, and so it is a big consideration, and I really am not sure what will happen."
Paul previously said he is trying to talk his reluctant wife into supporting a run.
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