Rep. slams Sen. over anti-NSA lawsuit

Iran Press TV

Mon Jan 6, 2014 3:50PM GMT

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) has strongly criticized Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for his opposition to the National Security Agency's controversial spying programs.

In a Fox News interview on Sunday, King lashed out against Paul for threatening to sue the Obama administration over the NSA's spying policies, saying the agency is 'doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing.'

"Rand Paul does not know what he's talking about. And, Rand Paul is really spreading fear among the American people,' King said. "To me, he's either totally uninformed or he's part of that hate America crowd that I thought left us in the 1960s.'

'In any event, he doesn't deserve to be in the United States Senate for spreading that type of misperception and absolute lies to be honest with you,' King continued.

Earlier on Sunday, Paul defended his class-action lawsuit against the NSA in an ABC News interview, saying American people should challenge the government's access to personal correspondence without a specific warrant.

"I think the idea of a class-action lawsuit with hundreds of thousands of participants really beats home and brings to the forefront the idea that this is a generalized warrant and it should be considered unconstitutional," Paul said.

More than 250,000 people have signed on to the lawsuit.

The suit would allow ordinary people to protest having a single generalized warrant which can cover large numbers of cell phones, Paul said.

He also suggested a lighter sentence for Edward Snowden, the whistleblower behind the leaks of government surveillance activities.

Snowden, a former NSA contractor, has been granted a temporary asylum in Russia. He is wanted in the US on espionage charges.

ARA/ARA