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Sen. Rand Paul used last weeks battle over the federal budget to reinforce his image as the top fiscal hawk in the 2016 presidential field, calling out his colleagues for demanding more military spending without showing how they would pay for it.

Mr. Paul closed out the Senate vote-a-rama by giving a thumbs down to the GOP budget, hours after he opened up his day on the Senate floor by ripping apart Sen. Marco Rubios push to beef up the defense budget.

It is irresponsible and dangerous to continue to put America further into debt, even for something we need, Mr. Paul said on the Senate floor. We need national defense, but we should pay for it.

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Mr. Paul and fellow presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz ended up as the only two Republicans to vote against the budget, which passed 52-46 early Friday morning after dozens of votes that divided not only the GOP and Democrats, but also exposed divisions within the Republican presidential field.

Darrell West, vice president and director of Governance Studies at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution, said the budget votes provided more clues into how senators will approach the GOP nomination process with Mr. Paul playing up his credentials as a fiscal hawk.

He wants voters to think he has the most integrity because you cant balance the budget and increase military spending without reductions in other areas, Mr. West said.

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Mr. Rubio bolstered the notion he is running in the GOPs establishment lane, cementing his image as a defense hawk and making a play for moderate-minded voters by supporting an amendment that would block agencies from restricting speech on climate change.

His key moment came on his amendment to increase defense spending to the levels included in former Defense Secretary Robert Gates 2012 defense budget.

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Rand Paul opposes GOP budget, says it's 'irresponsible' to add debt