An unusual scene played out Wednesday on the Senate floor as an old-fashioned talking filibuster was waged against President Obama’s nominee to lead the CIA. 
 
 At first the filibuster, staged by Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulOvernight Health Care: Senate approves massive bill including health spending | Bill includes drug pricing measure | Move to block Planned Parenthood funding fails Overnight Defense: Senate passes massive defense, domestic spending bill | Duncan Hunter to step down from committees | Pompeo names North Korea envoy Senate approves sweeping bill on defense, domestic spending MORE (R-Ky.), was greeted with skepticism. For the first three hours, he railed alone against Obama’s refusal to rule out drone strikes on American soil. 
 
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 “I’m here to filibuster John Brennan’s nomination to be director of CIA,” Paul announced, later vowing: “I will speak for as long as it takes.” 
 
 But as the day went on, one Republican senator after another pledged support to Paul’s cause and made their way down to the Senate floor. 
 
 “Americans have every reason to be concerned any time the government wants to intrude on life, liberty or prosperity,” said Sen. Mike Lee Michael (Mike) Shumway LeeGrassley: Trump will tackle prison reform 'soon after' the midterms Overnight Health Care: Senate approves massive bill including health spending | Bill includes drug pricing measure | Move to block Planned Parenthood funding fails Overnight Defense: Senate passes massive defense, domestic spending bill | Duncan Hunter to step down from committees | Pompeo names North Korea envoy MORE (R-Utah), who was the first Republican to join Paul’s filibuster. “We’re talking here about the sanctity of human life.” 
 
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 Even a Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenGAO report blasts Trump's handling of ObamaCare Hillicon Valley: DNC reports attempted hack to FBI | GOP delays election security bill | Verizon calls restricting firefighters' data a 'mistake' | Russian hackers send warning to conservatives Senate Intelligence Committee members raise concerns about voting system vulnerabilities MORE (Ore.), got in on the act, saying he “appreciated” Paul’s attempt to draw attention to the issue. 
 
 “Every American has the right to know when their government believes they have the right to kill them,” Wyden said. 
 
 By mid-afternoon, major news sites were splashing Paul’s filibuster across their homepages and tracking it with live updates and video. “Randpage,” declared the conservative Drudge Report. “Revolt!” blared the liberal Huffington Post. 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidWith lives at stake, Congress must start acting on health care GOP’s midterm strategy takes shape Battle of the billionaires drives Nevada contest MORE (D-Nev.) had hoped to have a confirmation vote for Brennan on Wednesday so that lawmakers could leave town and avoid travel delays from an expected snowstorm in the District. 
 
 But Paul was unyielding, and said he would not stop his filibuster until the president or Attorney General Eric Holder Eric Himpton HolderTrump, Obamas and Clintons among leaders mourning Aretha Franklin With bash-Trump day, press acts like opposition party Sanders to appear next week on Colbert's 'Late Show' MORE “put that in words” that they “will not kill non-enemy combatants” inside the United States. 
 
 “I will speak today until the president says, �?no,’ he will not kill you at a café,” Paul said. 
 
 Nearly five hours into Paul’s filibuster, Reid threw in the towel, and said he hoped for a Thursday vote on Brennan’s nomination. “We’ll just finish this matter tomorrow,” Reid said. “We’re through for the night.” 
 
 Without unanimous consent, a final vote on Brennan could be pushed to next week. 
 
 Cruz commended Paul and other senators for “standing here today like a modern-day �?Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’ ” and said his only regret was that more lawmakers weren’t making the same effort. 
 
 Paul yielded the floor to applause at 12:39 a.m. on Thursday after nearly 13 hours. 
 
 Paul said he would have liked to have gone another 12 hours to break the record of former Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), but Paul need to “take care of something you can’t put off in a filibuster,” referring to using the restroom. 
 
 “I’m hopeful that we have drawn attention to this issue, that this issue will not fade away, and that the president will come up with a response,” Paul said in his closing remarks. 
 
 The last talking filibuster in the Senate took place in 2010, when Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernard (Bernie) SandersOvernight Health Care: Senate approves massive bill including health spending | Bill includes drug pricing measure | Move to block Planned Parenthood funding fails Overnight Defense: Senate passes massive defense, domestic spending bill | Duncan Hunter to step down from committees | Pompeo names North Korea envoy Overnight Energy: Dems urge California governor to stop oil, gas extraction | Greens protest DNC reversal on fossil fuel donations | Probe finds booming US demand for imported giraffe parts MORE (I-Vt.) held the Senate floor for eight hours in protest of an agreement to extend Bush-era tax rates. That fiery speech has become known as the “Filibernie” in Washington lore. 
 
 The day before Paul’s filibuster, the Senate Intelligence Committee in a 12-3 vote approved Brennan’s nomination and sent it to the full Senate. Wyden and Rubio, who are both members of that panel, voted to advance the nominee. 
 
 A quick confirmation vote had seemed likely until Paul stepped in. Instead, a growing number of senators are demanding more information from the White House about the secretive armed drone program. 
 
 “I have been dumbfounded” at the White House’s inability to provide “a straightforward answer” on the drone program and its implications for operations inside the U.S., Chambliss said. 
 
 “We need the right information to ask the right questions,” Chambliss said, adding he would vote against Brennan’s confirmation when it comes before the full Senate. 
 
 “Congress and the public need to know what the rules are,” particularly when U.S. citizens are the target of lethal strikes, Wyden added. 
 
 “That’s not what our American democracy is about,” Wyden said. 
 
 GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamCorker: Sessions �?owns’ Trump until he’s fired Republicans warn Senate wouldn't confirm Sessions successor Trump-Justice feud deepens MORE (S.C.) and John McCain John Sidney McCainOvernight Defense: Senate passes massive defense, domestic spending bill | Duncan Hunter to step down from committees | Pompeo names North Korea envoy Republicans warn Senate wouldn't confirm Sessions successor Moderates shrug off call to delay Kavanaugh over Cohen plea MORE (Ariz.) had also considered blocking Brennan’s bid due to unanswered questions about last year’s terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. 
 
 Graham said Wednesday that he would not block Brennan over the Benghazi attack, but would continue to press the issue in future hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. 
 
 Congressional opposition to the drone program began in February, when leaked Justice Department documents claimed the CIA and the Department of Defense have the legal right to take out terror suspects via drone strikes, even if those suspects happen to be U.S. citizens. 
 
 Paul said he wants Obama to define what standards would be used to justify a drone strike against an American on U.S. soil. Paul pointed to Vietnam War protesters who vocally sympathized with the enemy and questioned whether sympathizing was justification enough for the warrantless killing. 
 
 “Is objection to the policy of your government sympathizing with the enemy?” Paul said. “Are you just going to drop a Hellfire missile on Jane Fonda?” referring to the actress’s prominent anti-war stance during the Vietnam conflict. 
 
 “There are a lot of questions that are not being asked. ... I think there is a difference between sympathizing and taking up arms,” Paul said. 
 
 Holder attempted to soothe Paul’s concerns on Tuesday, saying the White House “has no intention” of launching drone strikes on American soil. 
 
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 In a letter sent to Paul, Holder said the White House “rejects the use of military force” inside the U.S. when “well-established law enforcement authorities” exist. 
 
 “The question you have posed is therefore entirely hypothetical, unlikely to occur, and one we hope no president will ever have to confront,” Holder wrote. 
 
 That said, the attorney general did not dismiss outright the possible use of military force on American soil in the face of a “catastrophic attack” like 9/11. 
 
 “Were such an emergency to arise, I would examine the particular facts ... before advising the president on the scope of his authority.” Holder said. 
 
 Before Wednesday’s filibuster, several Senate Republicans anticipated a much smoother ride for Brennan’s confirmation, compared to the partisan battle to confirm Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Charles (Chuck) Timothy HagelTrump’s bogus use of cyber threats to prop up coal GOP lambasts Trump over performance in Helsinki Overnight Defense: Latest on historic Korea summit | Trump says 'many people' interested in VA job | Pompeo thinks Trump likely to leave Iran deal MORE. 
 
 “I am sure there is going to be some opposition, but I do not think it is going to be as intense as it was with Secretary Hagel,” Senate Intelligence Committee member Sen. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsKavanaugh eases off call for presidential immunity in meetings with senators Overnight Health Care: Senate approves massive bill including health spending | Bill includes drug pricing measure | Move to block Planned Parenthood funding fails Major vendor of voting systems to boost security following criticism MORE (R-Maine) told The Hill last week. 
 
 “I think everyone feels Brennan is qualified — they may not like him, but he is qualified,” Sen. Chuck Grassley Charles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleyCorker: Sessions �?owns’ Trump until he’s fired Grassley: Trump will tackle prison reform 'soon after' the midterms Overnight Health Care: Senate approves massive bill including health spending | Bill includes drug pricing measure | Move to block Planned Parenthood funding fails MORE (R-Iowa) said at the time. 
 
 — Jeremy Herb contributed to this report. 
 
 
 
 
 
 — Updated at 12:47 a.m. on Thursday. 
 
 ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul staged the longest talking filibuster in recent Senate memory from Wednesday into early Thursday, railing with his colleagues for more than 12 hours against what they called the danger of drone strikes to U.S. citizens on American soil. 
 
 In seizing control of the Senate, a bloc of conservatives led by the libertarian Paul successfully pushed a potential vote to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee to run the CIA off the day’s agenda. 
 
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 reset Paul ends filibuster Obama's drone defense 
 
 Paul began speaking at 11:47 a.m. on Wednesday and finally yielded the floor at about 12:39 a.m. Thursday, having stayed inside the Senate chamber and on his feet for that entire time. 
 
 “I would try to go another 12 hours and try to break Strom Thurmond’s record, but there are some limits to filibustering and I am going to have to go take care of one of those here,” Paul said. 
 
 Immediately after he finished, Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois introduced a motion to end debate on the nomination of John Brennan to run the CIA. 
 
 (PHOTOS: The longest filibusters in history) 
 
 Speaking to reporters afterward, Paul said he hadn’t done much preparation for what turned into a rare marathon talkfest. 
 
 “Well the weird thing is that we didn't really have a plan,” he said. “We showed up this morning thinking [the Brennan] debate was going to be tomorrow... I hadn't planned on it. I didn't wear my most comfortable shoes or anything. I would have worn different shoes." 
 
 He did use some strategy: "I went to the candy drawer a lot of times, and I didn't drink much water, so I need some water,” he said. A spokeswoman said Paul had not taken a steam bath as Thurmond had for his record-setting 24-hour filibuster. 
 
 “I'm very tired,” he acknowledged. “My legs hurt, my feet hurt, everything hurts." 
 
 Paul's gambit initially surprised the Senate, many members of which had been prepared to vote to confirm Brennan to take over the spy agency earlier Wednesday. But as the day wore on, several of Paul's colleagues — as well as one Democrat — joined him to attack the Obama administration for its refusal to positively rule out the use of drones against Americans in the U.S. or to disclose more information about drones. 
 
 By nightfall, Paul’s effort had gained the support of more of his colleagues, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. They joined him on the floor and used up chunks of time with quotes from Ronald Reagan, Shakespeare, and in the case of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, “The Godfather” and rapper Jay-Z. 
 
 (PHOTOS: The senators who spoke during the filibuster) 
 
 Just short of the 12-hour mark, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called via Twitter for “all Republican US senators” to join the filibuster. 
 
 So, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin gave a speech as much about the dysfunctional Senate and the dangers of the national debt as about drone policy. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said that the essential issue of liberty shouldn’t divide the political parties. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona told Paul “the question you’ve asked is totally right and proper.” And so on. ||||| Efforts by Senate Democrats to win a speedy confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director have run into a snag. Republican Sen. Rand Paul has begun what he calls a filibuster of Brennan's nomination. (March 6) 
 
 Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks on the Senate floor on Wednesday. (Photo: Video screen grab of Senate television via AP) Story Highlights Paul says concern over Brennan is not partisan 
 
 Reid said vote on Brennan could come Thursday 
 
 White House provided classified documents about drone strikes 
 
 WASHINGTON — John Brennan's nomination to lead the CIA was delayed Wednesday by a filibuster led by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., about concerns about the legality of drone strikes against U.S. citizens. 
 
 "I'm going to speak as long as I can to draw attention to something I find very disturbing," said Paul, who started speaking around 11:45 a.m. 
 
 What started in the morning as a solo effort turned into a multi-senator debate that included one Democrat, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and at least seven Republicans questioning the constitutionality of drone strikes on U.S. citizens at home and abroad. 
 
 MORE: 5 longest filibusters in Senate history 
 
 "No American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found guilty of a crime by a court," Paul said. "How can you kill someone without going to a judge, or a jury?" 
 
 The federal government has not conducted such operations and doesn't plan to, Attorney General Eric Holder told Paul in a March 4 letter. But, Holder added, it was possible President Obama could be forced by an "extraordinary circumstance" to kill citizens inside the United States, and he cited the Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks as examples. 
 
 During his filibuster, Paul said the fuzziness of such language created a slippery slope that could lead to the targeting of citizens who merely have different opinions about policies than the president. 
 
 "You can't be judge, jury and executioner all in one," Paul said. 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., took the floor around 4:30 p.m. to say any vote to end debate on Brennan's nomination or to approve him as CIA director would happen Thursday. 
 
 Paul said during his filibuster that his opposition was not about Brennan himself, but the constitutional issues involved. "We really just want [Obama] to say he won't" attack noncombatants on U.S. soil. 
 
 Democrats who lead the Senate could move Brennan's nomination to a vote, Paul said, if they would introduce a resolution saying they would not advocate the killing of noncombatants with drone strikes. 
 
 Wyden, a longtime critic of excessive government intelligence and surveillance programs, said "the senator from Kentucky has made a number of important points." 
 
 There are times, Wyden said, when a U.S. citizen who takes up arms against the United States while overseas can be attacked by a drone. But the executive branch of government, he said, should not be allowed to "conduct such a far-reaching policy without scrutiny." 
 
 It's not a partisan issue, Paul said, noting that he voted to support the nominations of John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, the secretaries of State and Defense. 
 
 Paul and other senators had delayed a full Senate vote on Brennan's nomination until they received more information about the drone program. The White House provided Justice Department documents on the drone program to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. 
 
 MORE: Senate intelligence panel approves Brennan to head CIA 
 
 The committee then voted 12-3 to approve Brennan's nomination. 
 
 Brennan, the White House's top counterterrorism adviser, was closely linked to the drone program. The administration has used the unmanned aircraft to regularly target suspected terrorists in the Middle East and Africa. 
 
 In 2011, U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by a drone strike in Yemen, raising questions about the use of the armed drones on American citizens. 
 
 Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina had used Brennan's nomination to air concerns about the administration's handling of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador. 
 
 McCain and Graham said they would oppose Brennan unless they got classified documents detailing the administration's actions immediately following the attack, the Associated Press reported. 
 
 The White House has said it provided more documents to lawmakers about that attack. 
 
 Before coming to the White House, Brennan served 25 years in the CIA.
– It's possible the Senate will get a chance to confirm John Brennan as the next CIA chief tomorrow—unless Rand Paul's voice holds out. The Kentucky Republican began a genuine filibuster about 11:45am today, reports USA Today. That is, he's not taking advantage of the modern rule that allows him to just say he wants to filibuster—he's talking and talking and talking. "I will speak for as long as it takes," he said. "I will speak today until the president says, ‘No,’ he will not kill you at a cafe.'" The quote refers to White House policy on drone strikes against Americans on US soil. (Watch it live at CSPAN.org.) About three hours into the filibuster, Paul started getting support, reports the Hill. Republicans Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and others helped him keep the filibuster moving, as did Democrat Ron Wyden. Harry Reid is powerless to end it until Paul yields the floor because Reid failed to file the appropriate paperwork beforehand, reports Politico. Yesterday, Paul released a letter from the attorney general stating that while it would be unlikely, it's conceivable that the US might order the killing of an American citizen here to prevent a terror attack.