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NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - MARCH 07: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center March 7, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. The CPAC annual meeting brings together conservative politicians, pundits and their supporters for speeches, panels and classes. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - MARCH 07: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) takes the stage before addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center March 7, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. The CPAC annual meeting brings together conservative politicians, pundits and their supporters for speeches, panels and classes. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (C), former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (L) and and Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, departs a press conference in front of U.S. District Court to announce the filing of a class action lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and FBI Director James Comey. Paul said he filed the lawsuit to stop NSA surveillance of U.S. phone records because Obama has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th amendment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (C) holds up a group of cell phones in front of U.S. District Court to announce the filing of a class action lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and FBI Director James Comey. Paul said he filed the lawsuit to stop NSA surveillance of U.S. phone records because Obama has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th amendment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) arrives in front of U.S. District Court to announce the filing of a class action lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and FBI Director James Comey. Paul said he filed the lawsuit to stop NSA surveillance of U.S. phone records because Obama has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th amendment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2013 file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. This is a year of auditioning, positioning, networking and just plain hard work for people who are considering running for president in 2016. You could see them stirring in 2013 as they plugged holes in resumes, took preliminary steps to build potential campaign organizations and made carefully calibrated moves to get better known by Americans generally and key constituencies in particular. Most _ but not all _ are ticking off items on what could be called the presidential prep checklist. And theyve got baggage to deal with. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., talks to media outside the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, after an event hosted by President Barack Obama about the Promise Zones Initiative. The Promise Zone Initiative is part of a plan to create a better bargain for the middle-class by partnering with local communities and businesses to create jobs, increase economic security, expand educational opportunities, increase access to quality, affordable housing and improve public safety. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 07: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (2nd L) talks to reporters while walking to the Senate chamber to vote on unemployment insurance at the US Capitol January 7, 2014 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Senate voted 60-37 to move forward with a bill to extend federal unemployment benefits for three months. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 17: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (3rd R) talks to reporters after a vote December 17, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Senate has passed a cloture vote to clear the way for a final vote of the Ryan-Murray Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul speaks at the Detroit Economic Club held at the Motor City Casino, in Detroit, Dec. 6, 2013. Paul, spoke of economic freedom zones. (AP Photo/The Detroit News, Max Ortiz)

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Rand Paul Amendment Would Increase Executive Branch Power

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took to the floor Wednesday afternoon to speak against a reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Paul claims it gives government too much access to citizens private cellphone records. (C-SPAN)

Sen. Rand Paul spent most of Wednesday talking.

Paul took to the Senate floor at 1:18 p.m. Wednesday, interrupting a debate on a trade bill, to speak against a reauthorization of the Patriot Act. With the exception of breaks to allow colleagues to speak, he talked, and stood, for nearly 11 hours before yielding the floor just before midnight.

The Kentucky Republicans marathon seizure of the Senate came after a week of repeatedly threatening to filibuster a reauthorization of the Patriot Act a fight he conceded Monday he cannot win, because he does not have the votes.

Are you really willing to give up your liberty for security? Paul asked.

Paul spoke for about 2 1/2 hours before he got help from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), with whom Paul has crafted his planned opposition. The two went back and forth asking each other questions very, very long questions about surveillance and the collection of bulk records.

I think we accomplished something, Paul said after he was done.

Paul has been here before, rocketing to prominence in 2013 after speaking for 13 hours on the Senate floor and vowing in his new book to wear tennis shoes the next time he filibustered. Last time, he had help from a large group of Senate colleagues. This time, he had a much smaller group by his side.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) took to the floor, as did Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.). Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) joined Paul later in the evening. And four additional Democrats gave Paul a hand later Wednesday night: Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Christopher A. Coons (Del.) and Jon Tester (Mont.)

Late Wednesday night Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), two of his competitors for the GOP presidential nomination, showed up in the chamber. Cruz presided over the body and, when done, spoke on the floor. Cruz urged colleagues to support the USA Freedom Act and said Paul should be allowed to introduce amendments to Patriot Act legislation. Rubio presided and appeared to be engrossed in a magazine. He and Cruz spoke at length during Pauls 2013 filibuster, with Rubio quoting rappers Wiz Khalifa and Jay Z on the Senate floor.

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Rand Paul speaks 11 hours against Patriot Act renewal ...

Rand Paul seized the national stage on Wednesday with his second Mr. Smith-style speech on the Senate floor, linking his presidential hopes to an effort to halt the National Security Agencys data collection program.

The 10 1/2-hour speech was the big, attention-grabbing moment that presidential campaigns crave, and Pauls advisers saw it as a huge opportunity, even as rivals insisted the move was out of step with the Republican Partys hawkish mood.

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It re-establishes him as the candidate that is willing to buck the Washington establishment for something he thinks is important: to protect individual rights, said Steve Munisteri, a senior adviser to Pauls campaign and the former chairman of the Texas Republican Party. He added, Sen. Paul is the only Republican candidate on the forefront of protecting individual privacy.

A Republican strategist close to the Paul camp put it more bluntly: In a multicandidate field like this, how do you distinguish yourself? How do you break out of the pack? This is one way of doing it: Every other candidate disagrees with [you].

People in Pauls orbit believe that the decision to take to the floor to fight the NSA via a long, filibuster-like speech will galvanize the libertarian base that supported his father, Ron Paul, without turning off more mainstream Republicans. The Paul forces wasted no time fundraising off the event, something sources say will continue, and the campaign revived the #StandwithRand hashtag that Paul made popular with his 2013 filibuster of John Brennans nomination to lead the CIA in order to dramatize his skepticism about the administrations use of drones. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Paul supporters attempted to stage a small, impromptu rally at the Capitol.

But big moves carry big risks, as supporters of Pauls GOP competitors pointed out. Rival campaigns and other Republicans note that times have changed since Paul burst onto the national scene with his filibuster. Now, they say, with the Islamic State on the march, Pauls efforts to restrict the NSA could jeopardize national security. Some predicted the filibuster would backfire, serving mainly to show early-state voters just how out of step Paul can be with the Republican mainstream.

I just dont know if itll generate the same level of energy or enthusiasm, said Robert C. OBrien, a foreign policy adviser to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Were in a different security situation with the fall of Ramadi. While there are people rightly concerned about the NSA following the law and appropriate rules and regulations, I think people realize we face a very, very serious security threat.

Indeed, the move comes as Paul attempts to moderate his image on defense and foreign policy. For years, Republicans have sought to paint him as an isolationist who excessively prioritizes privacy over security. And on many issues, Paul has backed off or de-emphasized some of the harder-line libertarian views he espoused when he entered the Senate as a tea party insurgent.

But on this one, people in Pauls orbit believe that the public is with him. They note polls that suggest voters prefer a balance between civil liberties and national security and believe that the issue will resonate with young people and voters from the technology sector two groups Paul has been courting. That was reflected on his Twitter feed and Instagram accounts, both of which offered up steady streams of content tied to the senators speech, in keeping with the campaigns digital-first mentality. Paul and his allies also had no problem taking swipes at other candidates Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), for example who dont go as far as he does in taking on the PATRIOT Act.

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Rand Paul bets the campaign on filibuster - Katie Glueck ...

Story highlights Paul's speech wasn't technically a filibuster because of intricate Senate rules Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden joined Paul in support

Paul, R-Kentucky, ran through several binders of material over the course of his marathon protest, and also got some help from 10 fellow senators -- three Republicans and seven Democrats.

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, were the biggest boons to Paul's efforts, joining Paul on the Senate floor several times to give the Kentucky Republican a chance to catch his breath -- and often grab a sip of water and pop a candy in his mouth. And one of Paul's rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, also ended up helping Paul's efforts late in the night.

"There comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate and liberty and privacy to suffer. That time is now and I will not let the Patriot Act, the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged," Paul said at the opening of his remarks, and those who joined him on the Senate floor shared his concerns and stressed the need to reform the Patriot Act.

The Senate is considering whether to reauthorize or reform a crucial section of that law that gives the government sweeping powers to collect phone metadata on millions of Americans in an effort to thwart terrorist plots. The House last week overwhelmingly approved a bill to reform that law.

The NSA's bulk collection program expires at midnight on June 1, and the Department of Justice warned in a memo shared by a GOP aide on Wednesday that the agency will have to begin preparing a week before the expiration date for a potential lapse in the law.

Paul's talk-a-thon Wednesday came more than two years after his nearly 13-hour filibuster in 2013, which was widely anticipated and brought him national attention for delaying the confirmation of CIA chief John Brennan to draw attention to U.S. drone policies.

But his speech Wednesday wasn't technically a filibuster because intricate Senate rules required him to stop talking by early Thursday afternoon for an unrelated vote.

Still, Paul's office insists it was a filibuster, saying Paul prevented lawmakers from taking action to reauthorize the Patriot Act while he had the floor.

READ: Boehner, McConnell split over NSA bill

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Rand Paul digs in on NSA surveillance - CNNPolitics.com

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, wrapped up his so-called "filibuster" over the National Security Agency's controversial bulk collection of Americans' phone records just before midnight Thursday.

Paul's talk-a-thon on the Senate floor lasted exactly 10 and a half hours.

"My voice is rapidly leaving, my bedtime has long since passed," Paul said as he began to wrap up his speech. "The bulk collection must end, and I think we have the votes to do it now."

"Thank you for staying and not throwing things. We will try not to do this but every few years," he said. "I want to thank the American people for considering the arguments and hopefully for helping us push this towards a reform where we all respect the Fourth Amendment and the Bill of Rights all again. Thank you Mr. President, and I relinquish the floor."

Armed with binders full of material, Paul started his lengthy speech opposing the PATRIOT Act at 1:18 p.m. Wednesday.

There comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate and liberty and privacy to suffer. That time is now, and I will not let the PATRIOT Act, the most un-patriotic of acts, go unchallenged," Paul said as he started his speech on the Senate floor. "The bulk collection of all Americans' phone records all of the time is a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment.

"The people don't want the bulk collection of their records, and if we were listening, we would hear that," Paul said.

Provisions of the PATRIOT Act, including Section 215, which authorizes the NSA's controversial bulk collection of phone records, is set to expire on June 1. Paul, known for his libertarian leanings, has said he does not want the program to be reauthorized.

Over the course of his filibuster, Paul was joined by several of his Senate colleagues, most notably including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is running against Paul in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Cruz, who partook in Pauls 2013 filibuster against drones and waged a filibuster of his own against Obamacare in 2013, compared the moment to the Blues Brothers

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Sen. Rand Paul Ends Filibuster Against NSA's Controversial ...