Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said he became personally invested in Sen. Rand Paul's nearly 13-hour filibuster on Wednesday, describing the parliamentary spectacle as "completely awesome."
“I think it was completely awesome. I was excited about it myself. I couldn’t go to bed. I’m still excited about it,” Priebus said, according to a report in the Des Moines Register.
Priebus tweeted support for Paul (R-Ky.) during the event, asking Republican lawmakers to go to the Senate floor to assist their colleague.
"Attention all Republican US Senators -> Please go to the floor and help out @SenRandPaul #StandWithRand," Priebus wrote.
In the interview posted Friday, Priebus said the filibuster united members of the Republican Party.
“You know why I’m excited about it? I think our party needs some unity sometimes," Priebus said. "And it’s not easy not having the White House, and sometimes you’ve got to scrap and claw for issues that can unify a party — now, [it wasn’t] total unity. But this was a great issue in standing up against the president and asking some simple, important questions, and I was happy to see so many other senators support Mr. Paul.”
Not all Republicans supported Paul's efforts to block the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director, however. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) both protested the move in speeches on the Senate floor on Thursday.
”What we saw yesterday is going to give ammunition to those who say the rules of the Senate are being abused," McCain said.
Graham said asking if the president could kill American citizens not engaged in combat drones was a question not deserving of an answer. Nevertheless, Attorney General Eric Holder provided one in a letter to Paul on Thursday.
"It has come to my attention that you have now asked an additional question: 'Does the President have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?' The answer to that question is no," Holder wrote.
