Sen. Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard PaulRand Paul's Festivus 'grievances' include comparing Lindsey Graham to Senator Palpatine Santorum: Trump base might not back Syria pullout Coons: Trump handing a ‘great big Christmas gift’ to Russia and Iran with Syria withdrawal MORE (R-Ky.) on Sunday expressed some concerns with Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump's approval holding steady in poll, despite shutdown drama Trump huddles with Pence, Mulvaney, Kushner as shutdown hits one week Trump jokingly congratulated acting EPA chief on not acting like Pruitt: report MORE's pick to serve as CIA director.

ADVERTISEMENT

The libertarian senator said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that it concerns him that Pompeo supported the Patriot Act.

"But I would say that with Pompeo, he's going to have to also answer to my liking whether or not he's still for torture, whether or not he's for waterboarding," Paul said.

"That's important."
 
Paul noted that Pompeo has also supported expanding the powers of the National Security Agency (NSA).
 
"Many of the NSA powers were done, I think, in secret without the knowledge of most members of Congress," he said.
 
"Even some members who are authors or co-authors of the Patriot Act said, 'We never intended for them to collect all that data in Utah. And they didn't tell us.' "
 
One of the questions he said he would ask Pompeo would be whether there are secret programs that even Congress doesn't know about, Paul said.
 
"And I think there still are programs ongoing that the bulk of Congress is not aware of," Paul said.
 
The president-elect last week announced that he's picked Pompeo to lead the CIA.
 
Pompeo is considered a serious — and hawkish — member of the Republican national security establishment.
Tags Donald Trump Rand Paul