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By Ashley Killough, CNN

updated 8:39 AM EDT, Fri September 19, 2014

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, is openly weighing a presidential bid.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Alexandria, Virginia (CNN) -- Fresh off his Senate floor speech against arming Syrian rebels, Sen. Rand Paul shifted gears Thursday night to lambast the current state of police militarization in the United States, especially when it comes to the war on drugs.

The Kentucky Republican told a libertarian-leaning audience in Alexandria, Virginia that police sometimes direct their focus on the wrong crimes.

"You want your police to be aggressive," he said. "But if someone's got some pot, you want to break down the door at two in the morning with masks and gas and concussion grenades?"

Paul was speaking to the Liberty Political Action Conference, where moments before his speech he was on stage with his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, to deliver a scholarship award.

It was a rare dual appearance by the two, as Rand Paul, who's laying the groundwork for a potential presidential bid, has attempted to differentiate himself from his father's legacy as a vocal libertarian. (Rand Paul, however, dutifully quoted his father at the end of his speech: "Freedom is popular. Bring it on.")

On militarization, Rand Paul said the public may never really know what happened to Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old shot dead by police in Ferguson, Missouri last month, and he didn't weigh in on the still unfolding controversy.

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Rand Paul: Police militarization, war on drugs is 'out of control'

Al Sharpton: Rand Paul could be a real threat in the general election
Al Sharpton on Weekends w/ Alex Witt - 8/31/14.

By: bxtidre7

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Al Sharpton: Rand Paul could be a real threat in the general election - Video

Sen. Paul Questions Sec. Kerry on ISIS Strategy- September 17, 2014
Sen. Rand Paul questions Secretary of State John Kerry on U.S. ISIS strategy at SFRC hearing.

By: SenatorRandPaul

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Sen. Paul Questions Sec. Kerry on ISIS Strategy- September 17, 2014 - Video

Sen. Rand Paul Argues Against U.S. Arming Syrian Rebels on Senate Floor - September 18, 2014

By: SenatorRandPaul

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Sen. Rand Paul Argues Against U.S. Arming Syrian Rebels on Senate Floor - September 18, 2014 - Video

Calling the presidents plan to confront ISIS absurd, Republican Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday blasted the proposal to arm and train Syrian rebels in the fight against the Islamic terror group.

It's messy, he said in a passionate 45-minute speech on the Senate floor. It's unclear. There are bad people on both sides. We need to stay the heck out of their civil war.

Paul also strongly objected to the idea that the Senate will not hold a separate vote on the authorization to arm the rebels. That measure has been combined with a larger short-term spending bill meant to prevent a government shutdown.

Sending arms to so-called moderate rebels in Syria is a fool's errand and will only make ISIS stronger," said the Kentucky Republican. "America should only go to war to win. We shouldn't go to war sort-of-meandering our way through a spending bill."

Paul has developed a reputation as a leading Republican non-interventionist for eschewing foreign conflicts and calling for the elimination of foreign aid. In recent weeks, though, the possible 2016 contender Paul has tried to make the case that he is not an isolationist and said that he supports a military strategy to destroy ISIS.

"It's not that I'm against all intervention, he said Thursday. I do see ISIS as a problem. ISIS is now a threat to us. But I see our previous policy as having made it worse."

First published September 18 2014, 12:06 PM

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Rand Paul Blasts 'Absurd' Syrian Rebel Plan