Tell Congress to rein in NSA spying

From Rand Paul 2016:

It's illegal.

That's what the New York-based 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously said about the NSA's bulk collection of American phone records earlier this morning.

As I've stated since the very beginning, the NSA's program of collecting billions of innocent Americans' phone records, texts, emails, Internet searches, and social media posts is blatantly unconstitutional.

The Founders included the Fourth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution to protect Americans' right to privacy from government snooping.

But the court didn't even need to address the program's constitutionality!

Please join me in taking our country back by adding your name right away.

While spy-state apologists point to the so-called "PATRIOT Act" as the source for legal authorization, the court noted the bill does nothing of the sort!

The entire scheme is flat-out ILLEGAL. Period.

I'm sure this is going to make my colleagues' skin crawl in Congress.

They want nothing more than to keep the national security spy state growing until it tracks, traces and catalogues virtually every detail about every aspect of our lives.

To them, the safety Americans yearn for can only be had under the watchful eye of Big Brother.

Of course, I know the legal wrangling over the NSA's domestic spying programs is far from over.

But with a fight brewing over renewal of the "PATRIOT Act" in Congress, I suspect this court's decision will only embolden some of my colleagues to enshrine the NSA's ILLEGAL and UNCONSTITUTIONAL spying schemes in federal law.

That's why I'm counting on your IMMEDIATE action.

Won't you please sign your End Illegal NSA Spying petition immediately?

It's absolutely critical that you do so.

I'm going to fight them with everything I have -- if I can count on your help.

The Founders understood liberty cannot long survive without privacy.

Most conservatives know government registration of firearms would ultimately lead to gun confiscation.

It's no different with the rest of our lives.

Once government bureaucrats know every aspect of our lives -- what we watch, what we buy, what we eat, where we worship -- it won't be long until they try to run them "for our own good."

After all, the Washington machine believes bureaucrats know best.

They couldn't be more wrong.

Out-of-control government has gummed up the wheels of our economy, leading to only 0.2% growth in the first quarter of this year.

It's sunk our nation in $18.2 TRILLION in debt.

Meanwhile ObamaCare is driving up health insurance premiums, shuttering hospitals and worsening the quality of American healthcare.

I know they say, "trust us."

But how can we?

How can we after the IRS targeted conservative organizations for harassment and intimidation?

How can we after the Justice Department spied on reporters who dared criticize this administration?

Even this entire NSA spying scheme is another example of an out-of-control government bureaucracy breaking the law to get what it wants.

Yet, more and more voices are now admitting these unconstitutional programs don't even work.

If our government used the legal tools it has to target terrorists -- instead of sifting through innocent Americans' information -- we could fight terrorism and uphold the Constitution.

But it's going to take a President who is willing to take the oath to uphold the Constitution seriously.

I ran for office because I feared the Washington machine was out of control.

I believed it was time for true patriots -- not career politicians -- to stand up and stop the madness.

Today, I'm running for President because we need a true, uncompromising voice for liberty.

And I'm going to fight any attempt by my colleagues in Congress to disguise the NSA's unconstitutional spying programs with a veil of legality.

But I must be able to count on your support.

First, please sign your End Illegal NSA Spying petition right away.

Second, please chip in your most generous contribution.

I don't know what you can afford.

My hope is you will be extra-generous and chip in $250, $100 or even $50.

If that's too much though, please chip in $25 or even $10.

The fight over NSA spying on innocent Americans is about to heat up in Washington, D.C.

I'm ready.

But I'm counting on you to please stand with me.

In liberty,

Rand Paul