Does the Fourth Amendment mean anything anymore? That is essentially the question Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) posed in a promotional video on Tuesday -- the day before he formally filed, along with the organization FreedomWorks, a class action lawsuit against President Obama and top officials at the National Security Agency (NSA). He cited the U.S. government’s ongoing collection of Americans’ phone records as the “modern equivalent” of British lawlessness and overreach during the Revolutionary War era. Back then, he argued, representatives from His Majesty’s Government would routinely and illegally search the homes and property of British subjects without their consent. How is what the NSA is doing today, he argued, any less tyrannical?
“The Constitution is not a negotiable piece of parchment to be ignored or abused at the president’s whim,” he said. “Washington leaders are expected to obey and protect what they took an oath to uphold. And if this means taking them to court over it -- so be it.”
You can learn more about Defending the Fourth here.