If lawmakers had approved the Freedom Act, the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records would have been limited by new restrictions. The USA Freedom Act would have required the NSA to obtain data from individual companies on a case-by-case basis. But, because companies are not required to keep customer data, opponents worry that process would be too burdensome and inadequate.
On Wednesday, GOP Presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took to the floor of the Senate for 10 hours and 30 minutes to filibuster the renewal of Section 215 of the Patriot Act.
Paul led the opposition against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who had said that he intended to set up a final showdown on the NSA’s bulk-data programs by “putting pressure on civil liberties advocates to muster the 60 votes needed to end the snooping,” in the hopes that the senators would end up having to accept an extension of the current Patriot Act.
