McConnell: Paul’s questions on drones are ‘entirely appropriate’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) came to the floor Wednesday night to support Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

McConnell said Paul is asking a “pretty easily understood question.”

Paul said he’d continue his filibuster for as long as he could or until he gets answers from the Obama administration on its drone program. Paul wants President Obama to say he will not kill U.S. citizens on American soil with drone attacks if they are non-enemy combatants. He says U.S. citizens deserve due process.

“It strikes me that that’s a question pretty easily understood and hopefully the administration has given some thought to,” McConnell said after Paul had been filibustering the Senate for nearly 12 hours. “This weapon has changed warfare in a dramatic way. … How the use of this weapon applies to the Constitution, I think is an entirely appropriate question.”

Paul has said that if Obama believed he has the right to kill U.S. citizens on American soil it would be a violation of the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees the right to a trial by jury.

McConnell added that he would not support Brennan's confirmation because he was a "controversial" nominee.

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