National Review on "Rand Paul, Libertarian Extremist"

Did you a need another Monday morning reminder of why Republican politics and libertarian ideals go together like a hearse and carriage? Read Andrew C. McCarthy's latest in National Review on "Rand Paul, Libertarian Extremist." First paragraph:

The Tea Party's limited-government, constitutional heart is in the right place. But it needs much better guidance about how the Constitution works in wartime.

More:

In my humble opinion (okay, okay, not so humble — but one I've spent years developing), historians will look back on the democracy project as the most damaging national-security development in the post-9/11 era. For one thing, it will be seen as the policy that vested such dangerously misplaced Tea Party credibility in libertarian extremists such as Senator Paul and Judge Napolitano, who, under the Orwellian guise of "constitutionalism," seek to vest our wartime enemies with the rights and privileges of American citizens (to the full peacetime extent of those rights and privileges).

Favorite line in the piece:

Could a president abuse such power? Of course — all power can be abused.

Reason is considerably more enthusiastic about Rand Paul; read all of our coverage here, and watch our Reason.tv interview with the senator at this link or click below.

UPDATE: At NRO, Rand Paul responds.