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Casino magnate and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, one of the GOPs most forceful advocates for a hawkish foreign policy, is willing to fund an effort to stop Rand Paul from securing the partys presidential nomination, should the libertarian-leaning Kentucky senators campaign pick up steam.

The revelation comes in a New York Times analysis of the GOPs internal divisions over foreign policy heading into next years campaign. The rise of the Islamic State militant group has reinvigorated interventionists like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), both of whom would make national security and global affairs central themes of their presidential campaigns, should they run. Meanwhile, Paul is coming under withering intra-party criticism due to his general reluctance to support military force and his backing for the Obama administrations positions on the Iranian nuclear negotiations and the diplomatic rapprochement with Cuba.

The guy whos now got the biggest challenge because of this is Rand Paul, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, told the Times, speaking of the GOPs increased attention to foreign policy. The Rand Paul worldview, which I suspect will change, is just incompatible with reality.

While it remains to be seen how Pauls all-but-certain campaign will perform, Adelson is telling associates that hell bankroll an effort to thwart the senator should he come within reach of securing the partys nod, the paper reports.

Though Adelson has yet to back a 2016 candidate, GOP hopefuls are vying assiduously to secure his support in next years contest. Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, and John Kasich have all made sojourns to Las Vegas to curry favor with Adelson, who contributed $150 million to Republican candidates and outside groups during the 2012 campaign. Adelson backed Gingrich in that years GOP primaries, pouring $15 million into his campaign. While Gingrich lost the nomination to Mitt Romney, Adelsons contributions kept Gingrichs campaign afloat far longer than it would otherwise have remained above water.

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Sheldon Adelson signals hell bankroll effort to stop ...

Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney ponders a point as he addresses the student body and guests at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015. Romney joked about his time as a candidate and addressed a number of world issues including terrorism, world economy and domestically "the need for strong American leadership," and job creation for Americans. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) | ASSOCIATED PRESS

This story was originally published by The Center for Public Integrity, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.

Not long ago, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised his administration would battle online smut by strictly enforcingobscenity laws and compelling businesses to installpornography filters on every new computer sold in the United States.

That's what makes it jarring that Romney's all-but-defunct 2012 presidential committee with an assist from U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is associating itself with astealthy front group that decries "government censorship" and is best known for producing a cheeky porno spoof that lambastes Internet regulation.

The motive? Cash.

Romney's committee continues to make money by renting the personal information of supporters to big data companies, which in turn peddle the information to most any special interest willing to pay for it, regardless of its views.

Paul, R-Ky., sent an emailon Monday in conjunction with an organization called "Protect Internet Freedom" that contends that "net neutrality" stands opposite freedom. The "net neutrality" debate concerns government rules that prevent Internet service providers from blocking or slowing online content, or prioritizing certain content in exchange for payment. The Federal Communications Commission isscheduledto votethis week on new "net neutrality" regulations, which manymajor telecom companiesandtrade groupshaveaggressivelyopposed.

Paul is a potential 2016 presidential candidate, and his father, Ron Paul, ran for president against Romney in 2012.

"These attempts to regulate the Internet are a direct attack on the freedom of information and an innovative market," Paul wrote in the email topped with a Protect Internet Freedom logo. "The government needs to stay out of the way ... We have to stop this aggressive, invasive and harmful regulation and we need all the help we can get to do it."

After Paul's signature come the message's disclaimers.

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Mitt Romney, Rand Paul And A Porno Spoof

OXON HILL, MD Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul told college Republicans Thursday night that the Republican Party needs to champion the rights of minorities and be "the party of justice" if its going to succeed.

Paul appeared at the "Big Government Sucks" rally as part of the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he and other potential Republican presidential candidates are wooing influential conservative activists. Paul will speak to all the conference attendees on Friday, hoping to win the CPAC straw poll for the third year in a row.

"If we want our message to resonate across the land, if we want our message to be inclusive, I tell people, look the Republican party needs to look like America," Paul said.

"White, black, brown, rich poor, with tattoos and without tattoos, with earrings and without earrings," Paul said to applause. "We need to take our message where its not been taken before."

Paul said the bill of rights needs to be for "the least among us," and offered as an example Kalief Browder, a 16-year-old African American from the Bronx who spent three years in jail with no trial or conviction.

"You think his friends and his family dont believe that big government is not treating them fairly?" Paul said.

Paul said minorities whose rights need protection can also include people with ideologies and religions outside the mainstream.

"If we as conservatives and Republicans can take the bill of rights and take it to people who havent been listening to Republicans and say, it isnt always about property, it isnt always about guns , although it should support both, its about protecting the least among us," he said.

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Rand Paul says Republicans need to embrace minorities

Today we are going to unveil that we are returning $500,000 to the Treasury. We invited several representatives of taxpayers from around the state to receive this check. This is a check for $500,000, or representative of $500,000, that we are returning from our office budget to the Treasury.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), speaking at a news conference, Jan. 13, 2012

Senator Rand Paul returns $480,000 to U.S. Treasury from Office Budget, has returned $1.8 million since taking office.

headline on Rand Paul news release, Feb. 20, 2015

A reader spotted a news item about Sen. Rand Pauls annual announcement that he has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds and returned it to the Treasury. He wondered how accurate that statement was, and so we decided to look into it.

Theres actually less to this claim than meets the eyeone made by not just Paul but a number of lawmakers. But Paul certainly makes a big deal out of it, including the visual image of a giant check made out to The U.S. taxpayer.

The money that every lawmaker receives is subject to annual appropriations, just like funds for the executive branch. As part of that allotment, each lawmaker in the House receives a members representational allowance (MRA) and each senator receives a senators official personnel and office expense allowance (SOPOEA).

The money is intended to be used for office and staff expenses; the procedures and formulas for determining the amount for each lawmaker are slightly different in each legislative body.

The average amount for Houses members was $1.255 million in fiscal year 2014 while senators will receive an average of$3.24 million in fiscal year 2015, according to the Congressional Research Service. Few lawmakers spent every cent of their allotment, and some (especially in the Senate) leave hundreds of thousands of dollars unspent.

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Fact Checker: Did Rand Paul really return money to the Treasury?

Published February 26, 2015

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., blasted former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush late Wednesday for what he called "hypocrisy" on drug policy ahead of this weekend's Conservative Political Action Conference.

Paul, who like Bush is considering whether to seek the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, contrasted Bush's opposition to legalizing medical marijuana with his admitted drug use while a student at Phillips Academy, an elite prep school in Andover, Mass.

"When Jeb was a very wealthy kid at a very elite school, he used marijuana but didnt get caught, didnt have to go to prison." Paul told "The Kelly File" Wednesday. "I think it shows some hypocrisy thats going to be very difficult for young people to understand why wed put a 65-year-old guy in jail for medical marijuana."

"What Im talking about is not the hypocrisy of wealth, its the hypocrisy of evading the law, because the law seems to target and seems to go after poor people, often people of color," Paul continued. "Whats hypocritical is if youre very wealthy, [if] youre able to escape the long arm of the law is then to really want to throw long sentences, 15 years, 20 years, 50 years in prison for marijuana at people, so I think thats where the hypocrisy comes in."

Last year, Bush opposed a proposed amendment to the Florida state constitution that would have legalized medical marijuana in the state. The measure came up short of the 60 percent threshold needed to be approved by voters.

Both Paul and Bush will be appearing at CPAC, which will be held in National Harbor, Md., outside Washington, D.C. Paul has won the event's straw poll in each of the past two years.

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Rand Paul slams Jeb Bush for drug 'hypocrisy' - KURTZ: How much does Walker's Iowa lead mean?