Politics

Sen. Wyden Hints at Support for Rand Paul's NSA Suit

Interview set to air Friday

|

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.) said in an interview set to air Friday that he finds the National Security Agency's (NSA) metadata collection "unconstitutional," hinting at support for Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) lawsuit against President Obama and the program. 

On Bloomberg's "Political Capital with Al Hunt," Wyden said he's not familiar with the details of Paul's lawsuit, but noted they've worked together on NSA issues, according to a transcript of the interview.

"Sen. Paul and I have worked very closely together on these issues. Both of us feel, Al, that the government ought to be able to collect the information it needs when it needs it to protect our citizens … but the reality is, the idea of collecting millions and millions of phone records on law-abiding Americans doesn't make us any more secure," Wyden said. "It undermines our liberty. I personally believe that, yes, it is unconstitutional to collect millions and millions of phone records on law-abiding Americans. It violates the Fourth Amendment."