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Kentucky Senator Rand Paul speaks to members of the media following a speech to the Chase Federalist Society at Northern Kentucky University, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, in Highland Heights, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley) more >

Sen. Rand Paul said the events in Ferguson have shown him one thing that the War on Drugs has taken quite a toll on communities and that politicians are pretty much to blame.

In the search for culpability for the tragedy in Ferguson, I mostly blame politicians, he wrote in an op-ed for Time magazine.

He went on: Michael Browns death indicate[s] something is wrong with criminal justice in America. The War on Drugs has created a culture of violence and put police in a nearly impossible situation.

Mr. Paul didnt indicate whether he agreed with the grand jurys decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of teen Michael Brown. But he did say that poverty fuels crime although the solution to that particular problem wouldnt be found with government.

In Ferguson, the precipitating crime was not drugs, but theft. But the War on Drugs has created a tension in some communities that too often results in tragedy. Does bad behavior account for some of the interactions with law enforcement? Yes, but surely there must be ways that we can work to prevent violence from escalating, he wrote. I have no intention to scold, but escaping the poverty and crime trap will require more than just criminal justice reform. Escaping the poverty trap will require all of us to relearn that not only are we our brothers keeper, we are our own keeper.

Mr. Paul has pushed for reform of the criminal justice system for some time, saying that mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug offenses unfairly target blacks.

Three out of four people in jail for drugs are people of color, he wrote, in the Time piece. In the African American community, folks rightly ask why are our sons disproportionately incarcerated, killed and maimed?

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Rand Paul on Ferguson: 'I mostly blame the politicians'

Rand Paul on Obama #39;s Executive Order Amnesty
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By: Rshill7

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Rand Paul on Obama's Executive Order Amnesty - Video

Rand Paul ISIS War #39;Illegal Until Congress Acts - TOI
Rand Paul ISIS War #39;Illegal Until Congress Acts Senator Rand Paul continues to insert his unconventional views into the nation #39;s foreign policy debate as the 2016 presidential contest gets...

By: The Times of India

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Rand Paul ISIS War 'Illegal Until Congress Acts - TOI - Video

By Sara Fischer, CNN

updated 4:50 PM EST, Mon November 24, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Sen. Rand Paul is receiving blowback from some of his Japanese-American colleagues after using World War II Japanese internment camps to describe what happens when a chief executive oversteps their power.

"Think of what happened in WWII, where the President issued an executive order," the Kentucky Republican said in a speech in his home state Friday slamming President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration. "He said to Japanese people, 'We're going to put you in a camp. We're going to take away all of your rights and liberties and we are going to intern you in a camp.'"

"I care that too much power gets in one place," Paul continued. "Why? Because there has been instances in our history where we allow power to gravitate to one person and that one person then makes decisions that really are egregious."

As news of the speech spread, Japanese lawmakers slammed Paul for his remarks.

"Rand Paul's comments comparing President Obama's executive order on Immigration with President Roosevelt's executive order that imprisoned thousands of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II could not be more misguided," Rep. Mike Honda said in a statement out Monday. "At best, he is confused. At worst, he is just wrong."

Honda himself lived in and out of Japanese internment camps for four years as a small child, as he referenced in his statement.

"As someone who as victim of executive order 9066, I can say without hesitation that (President Franklin Delano) Roosevelt was wrong," Honda said. "It was a misuse of power. President Obama's order is an appropriate use of executive order because Congress did not do its job."

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Japanese lawmakers slam Rand Paul - CNN.com

TIME Politics Congress Rand Pauls Declaration of War Against ISIS Divides Civil Libertarians Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks to an audience of supporters of Georgia Senate candidate David Perdue during a campaign stop in McDonough, Ga. on Oct. 24, 2014. Jessica McGowanGetty Images Some think a formal declaration of war would set limits, others worry where it would lead

Less than a week after rebuffing civil libertarians over a National Security Agency reform bill, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has divided them over a new draft to declare war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria and strip the authority President Obama uses to fight terrorism across the Middle East. Paul released his draft Monday and intends on introducing it in December.

The measure would set unprecedented limits on the Obama Administration, defining ISIS as the enemy and limiting ground combat forces to protect U.S. armed forces from imminent danger, attack high value targets and advise intelligence operations. The authorization only lasts for a year before Congress would have to re-up it.

The chances of the bill passing the presidents desk are slim, so to sayCongress has not declared war since World War IIbut it is interesting as it puts a likely Republican presidential contender on the same side as the New York Times editorial board on the question over whether or not the U.S. needs to act under a new legal authority to fight ISIS while dividing civil libertarians.

Some civil libertarians, angered by Obama and former president George W. Bush, who used authority granted by Congress in 2001 and 2002 to fight the War on Terror years later, praised the measure as an attempt to finally restore the checks and balance system.

It is the most muscular and assertive use of congressional authority under the Constitution of any of the proposals that are out there so far, says Chris Anders, a senior legislative counsel in the American Civil Liberties Unions Washington Legislative Office. We have a president deciding on his own once again to take the country to war without following the Constitution.

Anders said that Paul could be more specific in defining the objective, enemy and geographic limitations, but thinks that with additional information and hearings Paul can tighten up his draft.

I think given the information that is available right now, thats probably about as good as you can do, he said.

While Paul will face fierce opposition from the scores of defense hawks on Capitol Hill, he is not alone in providing the Administration with new authority to fight ISIS. A spokesman for Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff, who has pushed along with Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Robert Menendez of New Jersey for new congressional authorization, found a few things he liked in Pauls plan, including the new limits on the length of the mission and how troops are used.

Senator Pauls resolution tracks the bill introduced by Rep. Schiff in key respectsrepealing the 2002 authorization, sunsetting the new authority and the 2001 authorization contemporaneously, and limiting the use of ground troops against [ISIS], says Patrick Boland, Schiffs spokesman. While the limitations on ground troops differ in key respects, Senator Pauls bill is another important contribution to the debate over a new war authorization and adds support to the effort Senator Kaine and Schiff have been making to press for a Congressional debate and action on this key issue during the lame duck sessionhopefully his entry into this debate will help jumpstart the conversation on a new authorization which should begin immediately.

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Rand Pauls Declaration of War Against ISIS Divides Civil Libertarians