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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., waits to speak at a campaign stop on July 2, 2015, in Brooklyn, Iowa.(Photo: Charlie Neibergall, AP)

Breitbart News is reporting that GOP presidentialcandidate Rand Paul told one of itsreporters backstage ata speech in Houston last night that the U.S.should provide extra scrutiny of people coming into the countryfrompredominantly Muslim countries after the Chattanooga, Tenn.,terrorist attack on Friday.

"Im very concerned about immigration to this country from countries that have hotbeds of jihadism and hotbeds of this Islamism," Paul told Breitbart. "I think there does need to be heightened scrutiny. Nobody has a right to come to America, so this isnt something that we can say oh, their rights are being violated. Its a privilege to come to America and we need to thoroughly screen those who are coming."

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Chattanooga shooter straddled worlds

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Trump slams 'gun-free zones' in Chattanooga shooting

The alleged shooter in the Chattanooga incident --which claimed the lives of fiveU.S.Marines -- wasnamed Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. The 24-year-old was born in Kuwait and immigrated to the U.S.

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Report: Rand Paul calls for scrutiny of Muslims

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (David Zalubowski, AP)

The first finance report filed by Sen. Rand Pauls presidential campaign shows Kentuckys junior senator has expanded upon his father Ron Pauls mastery of building a vast network of small donors.

But in a crowded campaign likely to be dominated by super PACs that can accept contributions of unlimited amounts from billionaires, Paul finds himself at best in the middle of the pack in the critical struggle for the big money it will take to win the 2016 Republican nomination for president.

In a report filed Wednesday night with the Federal Election Commission, the Paul campaign reported raising $6.9 million between April when Paul announced his candidacy and June 30.

Of that total, $3.2 million came in small donations of $200 or less. Within the group of 15 GOP presidential candidates, only retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has raised a higher percentage of his contributions from small donors.

Former Florida governorJeb Bush, for instance, reported raising much more during the period than Paul $11.4 million. But Bush reported only $368,000 in contributions of $200 or less.

Paul campaign spokesman Sergio Gor declined to comment to The Courier-Journal. But he told Breitbart News last week that 108,205 individual donors have given to Paul, with the average contribution of $65.

Gor said those numbers show Paul has powerful grass-roots support of real voters across the country.

But unlike any presidential race before the 2016 campaign will be funded by the super PACs that support particular candidates.

Super PACs can accept contributions of unlimited amounts from individuals and corporations. But a campaign can accept donations of no more than $2,700 per person.

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Rand Paul raises $6.9 million for presidential campaign ...

Sen. Rand Paul is the latest lawmaker to throw a wrench into delicate transportation bill negotiations, suggesting he might hold up the legislation over the controversial Planned Parenthood video that surfaced this week.

The Kentucky Republican and presidential candidate released multiple statements Friday promising to use all legislative vehicles to defeat and defund Planned Parenthood next week. The statements on his Senate and campaign websites dont directly mention the pending highway and transit legislation, but it is the next big-ticket item on the Senates to-do list, with a procedural vote set for Tuesday.

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The recent revelation that this taxpayer-funded organization is selling body parts of the unborn further proves that this agency deserves our scorn not our tax dollars, he said in a statement. I plan to do whatever I can to stop them and will introduce an amendment to pending Senate legislation to immediately strip every dollar of Planned Parenthood funding.

Paul is just the latest Republican to weigh in on the controversy, which has riled up the GOP base after abortion-rights opponents released an undercover video that allegedly shows an executive of the health care nonprofit talking about the sale of fetal tissue from terminated pregnancies.

Planned Parenthood has denounced the video as heavily edited and says the executive was talking about donations of fetal tissue for medical research, and adds that the organization does not profit from the donations. But the group has also apologized for the lack of compassion the executive showed in the video, in which shes shown eating salad and drinking wine while discussing dollar figures.

Other GOP lawmakers have threatened to hold up the infrastructure bill over concerns that Democrats will use it as a vehicle to bring back the Export-Import Bank.

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Rand Paul may hold up highway bill over Planned Parenthood

Paul said in an interview backstage at a rally his presidential campaign is holding inside the Hyatt Regency here in downtown Houston:

Im very concerned about immigration to this country from countries that have hotbeds of jihadism and hotbeds of this Islamism. There was a program in place that Bush had put in placeit stood for entry-exit program from about 25 different countries with a lot of Islamic radicals, frankly. I think there does need to be heightened scrutiny. Nobody has a right to come to America, so this isnt something that we can say oh their rights are being violated. Its a privilege to come to America and we need to thoroughly screen those who are coming.

The alleged shooter in the Chattanooga incidentwhich claimed the lives of four U.S. marines, whom he allegedly murdered in the terror attackwas named Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. The 24-year-old was born in Kuwait and immigrated to the United States before he opened fire in Chattanooga, killing four Marines.

Paul also told Breitbart News about another similar incident regarding foreigners from the Middle East who were placed in Kentucky via immigration programs for refugeesand tried to, before getting caught, buy military grade missiles.Paul said:

In my hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky, we had two Iraqi refugees who were let into our country who were plotting to buy stinger missiles a few years ago, but they got arrested and put in jail. But I think were doing the wrong thing by just having this open door policy to bring in people without significant scrutiny. Im for increasing scrutiny on people who come on student visas from the 25 countries that have significant jihadism. Also, any kind of permanent visas or green cards, we need to be very careful. I dont think were being careful enough with who we let in.

Paul added that hes planning to, via his position in the U.S. Senate, investigate Muslim immigration problems. Paul is the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management and is also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Im going to have our subcommittee and maybe committee in Homeland Security look into whether or not we could reinstitute this NSEERS [National Security Entry Exit Registration System] programit was entry-exit program that was heightened scrutiny for 25 predominantly Muslim countries that have significant jihadist movements and anti-American sentiment in their country, Paul said. We need increased scrutiny on those countries before those people come to our country to visit or permanently. We have to have heightened scrutiny.

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Rand Paul: Restrict Immigration from Muslim Nations

Kentucky Sen. Rand Pauls presidential campaign took in about $7 million in the second quarter.

The libertarian-leaning Republican, who is also currently running for Senate reelection, transferred $1.6 million from his Senate campaign committee to his presidential committee, meaning that his White House bid raised $5.3 million in the quarter.

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About 60 percent of contributions from individual donors came from those providing $200 or less to the campaign. The only GOP campaign with a greater percentage of small-dollar donations in the second quarter was Ben Carsons.

Pauls total puts him ahead of candidates such as Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry, Carly Fiorina and Rick Santorum in terms of total raised and cash on hand ($4.1 million). His strong showing with small donors indicates that Paul continues to have some of the grass-roots appeal enjoyed by his father, Ron Paul, who won over scores of small donors with his libertarian message.

Still, while the pro-Paul super PAC has yet to disclose its numbers, the campaigns total does not vault him into the fields top fundraising tier, and he currently also polls in the middle of the pack.

Paul has more than $700,000 in unpaid debts, including several charges for strategy consulting, media and advertising.

In contrast to Jeb Bush, who received donations from a long list of family members, including his father and brother, Paul did not appear to receive any money from his dad, Ron Paul. The elder Paul has a devoted following, and his previous presidential bids have helped provide the senator with a built-in base of support. But his isolationist views have caused problems for his son, who has sought to distance himself on matters of foreign policy and national security.

Below is a breakout of where Pauls campaign finances stood as of the end of June:

Total raised: $6,932,779.14

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Rand Paul's official haul: $7 million - Katie Glueck and ...