Speaking at The Ripon Society breakfast meeting on Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) revealed his thoughts on President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address the night before, as well as the pressing issues for the 114th Congress.
“What amazes me most about him is that he will say a lot of things that I can agree with,” Paul said. “The problem is his lack of sincerity. On almost every issue where he said there was bipartisan support, he has not really helped to push the ball forward.”
Paul went on to cite examples of policy items on which the president’s actions do not necessarily match his words.
“A good example is the (National Security Agency),” Paul explained. “Congressman (Jim) Sensenbrenner (R-WI) was one of the authors of the Patriot Act, and he said that we never intended to have this kind of mass, bulk surveillance of the American public. And yet it is going on. The president could end it at any moment through Executive Order. It was done by Executive Order. He is very passive about changing it. He will say all the right things about privacy and about balancing privacy with security, but he has not done anything.”
Paul said that although he does not see eye to eye with the president on many issues, he does intend to move the Congressional agenda forward by working alongside Obama in every way possible.
“You know, for all the fire, I will work with him,” Paul said.
Paul concluded his remarks by challenging Republicans to take action on immigration reform.
“We can get that done,” he said. “It’s not going to be everything the other side wants. The biggest thing you hear about in Silicon Valley is that they want people with advanced degrees to stay in the country. I’m all for it. The Republican House passed that overwhelmingly last time. Let’s do it again. Let’s pass expansion of that.”