Rand Paul says his presidential campaign will bring new voters into the Republican Party.
The Kentucky US Senator is in the midst of a three-day campaign trip through New Hampshire. Speaking Saturday in Concord, Paul defended his attempt to block the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act, saying he wants the government to access phone records of terrorism suspects without collecting Americans' phone data in bulk:
"All you have to do is what the Fourth Amendment demands: put a name on a warrant," Paul said at at event in Concord. "Warrants are not hard to get."
He added: "What I don't want to say yes to, and what the whole debate was: everybody in Concord or everybody in New Hampshire that will look at all of your records all of the time."
Paul says such a position would keep Americans safe while guarding civil liberties at the same time. And he says there would be political benefits for the Republican Party, which he says would find new support from young voters interested in privacy issues and those concerned about police tactics in communities of color.
"When we become the party that says we're going to defend the entire Bill of Rights, I think we'll become the dominant party again," Paul said. "I think we'll win hands down. We'll win New Hampshire, we'll win the purple states, we'll take back the presidency."
Paul kicked off his latest trip through New Hampshire by opening a field office in Manchester. He's held campaign events in Derry, Barrington, Merrimack and Concord, and concludes the trip with a rally in Portsmouth Sunday morning.