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Paul, the privacy hawk and GOP presidential candidate, wants the wholesale expiration of Section 215 of the 2001 Patriot Act, the controversial surveillance provision that the NSA uses to justify the ongoing bulk collection of Americans phone records. (A federal appeals court earlier this month ruled that the provision does not in fact authorize the NSA program.) If absolutely nothing happens, the whole Patriot Act provision expires on 1 June 1.

Functionally, however, the clock is even more severe than that. After Thursday at mid-day, lawmakers in the House of Representatives who last week voted overwhelmingly to junk the bulk phone metadata collection leave for a vacation through 1 June.

Pauls opposite on the surveillance debate and fellow Kentucky Senator, GOP leader Mitch McConnell, is trying to pass a wholesale reauthorization of Section 215. He may or may not have the votes for it in the Senate, and he has to get it through the House. A coalition of surveillance reformers are trying to pass an end to the bulk phone records collection, called the USA Freedom Act, that would re-up Section 215 for four more years. They may or may not have the votes for it in the Senate.

But instead, heres Rand Paul, on the court, dribbling the ball where he stands, as the game clock winds down. All Paul needs to do to win is keep talking, and perhaps to get some like-minded Senators to relieve him when he tires or needs to use the bathroom. He doesnt even necessarily have to keep talking all through the next day. He just needs to talk for as long as he can, thereby snarling the rest of the Senate calendar and leaving that much less time for any surveillance measure to wind its way through the Senate when, perhaps, an outright filibuster by Paul or others could begin as well.

Paul has been here before: his 13-hour filibuster of John Brennans nomination to head the CIA became a reputation-making disquisition on the downsides of drone strikes and endless war. Then, however, Brennans confirmation was assured, since the votes to entrench him in Langley awaited once Paul sat down. This time, Paul is making the clock work for him.

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Rand Paul concludes 10-hour 'filibuster' in bid to derail ...