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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took to the Senate floor on Thursday afternoon to voice his strong opposition to a measure authorizing President Obama to train and arm the Syrian Free Army, a moderate rebel group, to combat the Islamic State.

Paul, who often advocates a more cautious foreign policy than many of his GOP colleagues, warned that intervening in Syria could, in fact, make things worse.

We need to stay the heck out of their civil war, Paul said, later adding. It is their war and they need to fight it.

Paul said that he believes that it is intellectually dishonest for the Obama administration as well as some members of Congress to argue that a use of force authorized by Congress to combat Al Qaeda more than a decade ago could now apply to sending arms or carrying out air strikes in Syria.

That vote had nothing to do with this, it had absolutely nothing to do with this, Paul said. You are intellectually dishonest if you argue that something passed in 2001 to deal with the people who attacked us on 9/11 has anything to do with sending arms to Syria.

Paul criticized the Syrian Free Army, and argued that in many cases in the past the United States has intervened in Middle Eastern conflicts only to see the militant and rebel groups that it supported become sponsors of terrorism a stance that was often trumpeted by his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, during his failed presidential bids.

Intervention created this chaos, Paul declared.

Paul said he believes that arming the rebels in Syria could, in fact, strengthen some terrorist groups and poise a threat to Israel.

Your representatives are sending $500 million to people who will tactically align with Al Qaeda, Paul declared. Who are we really arming? What will be the results? Where will these arms end up?

Paul said that the vote to authorize military action should be a separate, standalone vote in the Senate before leveling sharp criticism at President Obama for not coming to Congress for war authorization, saying he now does everything he criticized while Obama was himself in the Senate.

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Rand Paul blasts Obamas Syria plan: We need to stay the heck out of their civil war