McConnell Suggests New Look At Patriot Act [View all]

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

BY ERICA WERNER
AP Congressional Correspondent

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the Senate may re-open debate on National Security Agency wire-tapping authority following the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.

The Kentucky Republican tells The Associated Press in an interview that those attacks have led to second thoughts about Congress' wisdom in limiting the authority earlier this year.

The divisive issue pits privacy rights proponents against those pressing for tough post-Sept. 11 scrutiny. Revisiting the subject could roil the Republican presidential race. The issue has become a point of dispute between two leading GOP candidates, both senators: Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Rubio and McConnell both opposed dismantling the once-secret NSA program that until recently collected the landline calling records of nearly every American. Cruz took the other side.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article50115365.html