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The Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate is thrilling his libertarian-leaning base with a campaign against the NSA and stinging criticism of his party's history of Middle East meddling. But the moves are enraging other Republicans eyeing the White House with his opponents zeroing in on Paul's comments this week that "ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party."

Rick Santorum slammed Paul's remarks as "fundamentally a misunderstanding of the nature of the enemy we face."

"I would expect to hear that from maybe Bernie Sanders," he said, referring to the liberal Democratic presidential candidate. "I don't expect to hear that from somebody running for the Republican nomination."

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who said this week that Paul is "unsuited" to be commander-in-chief, told CNN Thursday that the senator's hawks comment must be "condemned."

"This is a statement that's even to the left of what Sen. Clinton or President Obama would say," Jindal said.

Rick Perry, meanwhile, accused Paul of a "basic misunderstanding of the situation in Iraq and Syria."

Indeed, Paul is becoming the preferred punching bag of Republican presidential hopefuls. Of course, many of them are eager to attack Paul to win media attention and bolster their national security credentials. But the bashing will be a persistent challenge for Paul as he navigates the tricky challenge of galvanizing his base, dominated by isolationists, while competing in a Republican primary that remains heavily influenced by traditional foreign policy hawks.

READ: Rand Paul: Republican brand 'sucks' and is 'broken'

The Paul-hating could come to a head this weekend when the Senate convenes for a rare Sunday session in a last-ditch attempt to prevent key NSA surveillance tactics from lapsing at midnight -- something both President Barack Obama and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have sought to avoid.

Paul hasn't hesitated to deploy every procedural tool available to thwart Senate action, leaving him with no friends on the issue among GOP presidential contenders.

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Rand Paul: The GOP's punching bag - CNNPolitics.com