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. The controversial section, which is used by the National Security Agency to justify its bulk collection of Americans’ data, is set to expire at the end of the month.

Paul held the floor from 1:18 p.m. to 11:49 p.m. on Wednesday. Politico noted that by extending his filibuster to the brink of Thursday, Paul prevented Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) from filing cloture on a bill that would extend the Patriot Act.

According to the Washington Times, McConnell had said on Tuesday that he would schedule a vote this week on a rewrite of the Patriot Act, “setting up a final showdown on the NSA’s bulk-data programs and 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. Continue reading →