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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 ...