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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Tuesday that Republicans will be pursuing the "repeal and delay" strategy on Obamacare once they vote Tuesday to debate a House-passed healthcare bill.

"This morning, @SenateMajLdr informed me that the plan for today is to take up the 2015 clean repeal bill as I've urged," he said on Twitter. "If that is the plan, I will vote to proceed to have this vote. I also now believe we will be able to defeat the new spending and bailouts."

GOP leadership is expected to call for a vote on a procedural motion that would start as much as 20 hours of debate on the House-passed healthcare bill, the American Health Care Act. If that motion gets the 50 votes it needs, assuming a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence, the House bill would be stripped out and a new bill would be swapped in.

On Monday, several senators said they were uncertain which bill would be considered. Paul's tweet suggests that bill would be the "repeal and delay" strategy that Republicans sent to former President Barack Obama's desk in 2015, which he vetoed.

The bill, formally called the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act, would repeal Obamacare's taxes, mandates and spending but leave in place regulations on insurers and give lawmakers two years to come up with a new plan. Conservatives such as Paul favor that route.

Paul said if the bill did not pass, Republicans likely would look to repeal whatever they could, including the taxes and mandates in the law.

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Rand Paul says GOP will vote on Obamacare 'repeal and delay' - Washington Examiner

"I guess what disappoints me most about the Republicans who said they were for repeal, voted for it, and then no longer are, is that they've sort of forgotten," Paul said on the "Sean Hannity Show." "They think this is about actuarial tables and insurance, and all this stuff. No, this is about freedom. This is about whether we as Americans should be free to buy what kind of insurance we want. What's best for us and our families. And it's about whether the individual knows best or government knows best. Are we too stupid that President Obama has to tell us what kind of insurance? Does he think Americans are too dumb to make their own decisions?"

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated an additional 22 million people will become uninsured by 2026 under the proposed replacement for Obamacare which the Senate voted down this week (and which Paul voted against). The CBO estimated that 32 million would be uninsured under a bill to partially repeal Obamacare without an immediate replacement that Paul voted for but which also failed to pass the Senate this week.

"Are we gonna give up our freedom and say to the government you decide what kind of insurance I get and what it covers," continued Paul. "It's a freedom issue. It really isn't about actuarial tables. It isn't about all the ins and outs. We have always taken care of those who are sick in our country. We have never, ever turned anyone away. I'm a physician. I've operated in hospitals for 25 years. I have never, ever seen anyone turned away who needed care."

"But the people who are saying thousands of people are gonna die," said Paul. "That is such hyperbole and ignorance and over-the-top statements that I think they lose credibility by saying things like that. No one is going to die in America, we haven't let people die in America for hundreds of years because doctors take care of and hospitals take care of all comers."

He later added, "So it hasn't happened in generations and in fact even before Medicare and Medicaid people did not die in our country for lack of care."

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Sen. Rand Paul: Health care debate about 'freedom,' not 'actuarial tables and insurance' - CNN

Sen. Rand Paul (R KY) has blocked a motion by majority leader Mitch McConnell (R KY) to advance the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the massive military spending bill, saying that the bill should instead face debate and possible amendments. This sets the bill back for 6 weeks, at least.

In particular, Sen. Paul is seeking two amendments, one which ends NDAA authorization for indefinite detention of suspects,and another related to the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), something that was added to the House version but later quietly removed by the Speaker.

Pauls protest is expected to delay the NDAA vote through at least the August recess, meaning a vote is unlikely until September. While this gives plenty of time for amendments to be debated, its not clear the Senate leadership will allow that no matter how much time theyre given.

Indeed, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John McCain (R AZ) was critical of any delay on any grounds, insisting the bill and its huge spending increase are a solemn obligation for the Senate to pass without delay. Other Senators have repeatedly been angry with Sen. Paul for not getting their way on bills, but the military spending bill is such a large one its likely to be particularly unpopular to debate, as quietly slipping it through is the way these things usually go.

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Rand Paul Blocks DOD Authorization Until September - Antiwar.com

All eyes were on Arizona Sen. John McCains key vote signaling the collapseof the Republicanhealth care bill early Friday morning, but the longtimeGOP senatoralso faced frustration over a delay in turning to the defense authorization bill.

Sen. Rand Paul blocked quick action on the measure, wanting to ensure debate on rolling back authorizations for the use of military force enacted early in the George W. Bush administration.

Paulobjectedto a consent request from his fellow Kentucky Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to begin defense authorization debate because of a desire to offer amendments to the defense policy bill, including an AUMF proposal.

Senator Rand Paul requested two bipartisan amendments, one on ending indefinite detention and one on AUMFs. He looks forward to working with leadership and the committee to get this done soon, a spokesman for Paul said Friday.

One of the Paul amendments would provide for a sunset of the 2001 and 2002 authorizations for use of force, according to a tweet from Pauls senior strategist Doug Stafford.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York said at a Friday news conference thathe,McCain and Armed Services ranking member Jack Reed attempted to work the matter out with Paul on the floor overnight, but couldnt.

Schumer said it would now be up to McConnell to resolve the issue.

The defense authorization had been on a list of priority items for consideration before senators depart for recess. That list also includes a slew of nominations, an FDA user fee reauthorization and legislation to meet the ongoing funding needs of the choice program for veterans health care.

Sen. Dean Heller, a Nevada Republican, said he anticipated Senate action before recess on the veterans choice bill, which passed the House Friday.

As a senior member of [the Veterans Affairs] Committee, guaranteeing Nevadas veterans have access to the Choice Program for services the VA cannot provide like chemotherapy or lifesaving surgeries has always been a top priority of mine,he said. I expect the Senate to act next week to pass this legislation, and Ill work to make sure our countrys heroes continue to have access to the health care services that some of them desperately need.

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Rand Paul Wants AUMF Debate With Defense Authorization - Roll Call

WASHINGTON Reauthorizing current surveillance laws would invade the privacy of American citizens, libertarian Sen. Rand Paul and liberal Sen. Ron Wyden warned Thursday.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 is set to lapse at the end of this year. Section 702 of the law allows, The Intelligence Community to target communications of non-U.S. persons located outside the United States for foreign intelligence purposes, according to the House Intelligence Committee.

Speaking at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, Wyden and other opponents of reauthorization are concerned about loopholes that allegedly invade the privacy of American citizens.

If you mention a foreign target or their contact information, you can get swept up in this, he said. There is nothing today that prevents law enforcement from searching through government databases and reading an Americans emails that have been swept up.

Incidental collection of the data of Americans often happens through about communications. About communications occur in the content of the email.

If two Americans are communicating domestically in an exchange that names a foreign intelligence target (say, an email that mentions an al-Qaeda operative by name), that email might be incidentally collected, according to Paul Rosenzweig, Charles Stimson, and David Shedd of the Heritage Foundation.

Proponents of section 702 reauthorization argue that innocent American citizens will not be targeted because they are not committing crimes.

They accept that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear, said Paul. They also seem to think that the government always does good. Do they remember the interning of the Japanese?

Instead of reauthorizing the FISA Amendments Act as-is, Wyden suggested four ways to reform the legislation.

First off, 702 needs an expiration date, he said. It should not be permanent. Its had an expiration date because of the changes in technology. Wyden stressed that the law requires reevaluation every few years in light of rapid technological change.

He also pushed for a legal prohibition on collection of about communication, adding new voices to the FISA court where the judges currently only hear the governments side of the debate and lack technology experts and increased transparency of how many people are targeted in backdoor searches of Americans using 702.

We have lowered the standard below the Fourth Amendment for foreign persons, said Sen. Paul. Do we want a government whos going to look at our every transaction, everything we do through a lower standard?

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Rand Paul Wants Government's Hands Off Your Emails | Sojourners - Sojourners