Rand Paul v. Barack H. Obama . That 's the name of a lawsuit the Kentucky senator announced Wednesday against President Barack Obama and national security officials over government surveillance . `` We do n't do this out of disrespect to anyone we do this out of respect to the Constitution , '' Paul said at a news conference . Paul 's class-action suit , filed in federal court in Washington , was spurred by Edward Snowden 's public disclosure last year that the NSA had gathered information on nearly every telephone call made in the United States since 2006 . At a news conference , Paul called the legal challenge `` an important first step '' to ending the program that sweeps up numbers and other information known as metadata . With the suit , the son of Libertarian hero Ron Paul , who captured the hearts and minds of millions during his two presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 , is rounding out his political persona through his Libertarian roots and adding another spoonful of political savvy . Paul v Candidate X. Paul v Obama in 2014 could be an effective way of helping Paul v the Democratic candidate in 2016 , if he runs for President . Read the suit . It 's no secret that Paul is considering such a step , but nothing 's official yet . `` I keep looking at my schedule and I see New Hampshire , I see Iowa , I see South Carolina and I do n't understand why I keep going to these states . '' Paul said Sunday about the three key nominating states on Dallas TV station KXAS 's program `` Lone Star Politics , '' according to the Dallas Morning News . Paul has crossover appeal on issues of war and national security that might help him down the road . According to a January poll by Quinnipiac , 48 % of American support the phone surveillance program and 47 % oppose . Similarly , 48 % say it 's necessary to keep Americans safe and 46 % think it 's not necessary . Additional polls show the split does not cut along party lines . And Paul 's lawsuit is bursting with politics . Signed on to Paul 's lawsuit is anti-establishment political organization FreedomWorks . Representing them is Ken Cuccinelli , Virginia 's firebrand former attorney general , who lost his bid in November to be Virginia 's governor . Paul is also promoting the suit through his political action committee , RandPAC , and while he said the legal move could impact hundreds of millions of people , he is asking 10 million of them to sign on to the class-action suit through his website . Asking for email addresses of class-action participants could be an effective way to increase a list of campaign supporters . `` Senator Paul can tap into those that are angry at the NSA and use the large number of class action participants to fundraise for a potential 2016 presidential run , '' Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said . In a CNN op-ed , Paul stayed away from politics and stuck to the policy prescription . `` It 's time to hold government officials accountable for their habitual trampling on the Constitution and on our rights as individuals , '' he wrote . Opinion : Stop the NSA while we still can . Crossover appeal . While Paul 's criticism of the government 's surveillance programs has rankled both Democrats and Republicans who believe the program keeps Americans safe , he is also receiving bipartisan support . Jenny Beth Martin , co-founder of Tea Party Patriots , said Paul 's suit follows his principles of limited government . `` I think it first and foremost is practical and necessary that we define the role of the NSA in terms of the Fourth Amendment in terms of today 's modern technology , '' Martin said , praising Paul . On the other end of the political spectrum , the American Civil Liberties Union said it generally agrees with Paul 's efforts to rein in the program . `` We agree with his view of the program and hope it will bring an end '' to the surveillance program , Patrick Toomey , an ACLU staff attorney , said . The ACLU also filed its own lawsuit six months ago against the program and hosted a day of action on Tuesday that resulted in 266,000 calls and emails to members of Congress opposing the mass surveillance program created to boost U.S. counterterror abilities . Paul gained national attention during a 13-hour filibuster last year of John Brennan , the nominee to lead the CIA when he also received praise from both conservatives and liberals . And after he announced his suit Wednesday , Paul had lunch to discuss restoring voting rights to ex felons , an issue that Paul has also drawn attention to and also crosses political ideologies . Hurdles . The efficacy of the suit is challenging , said legal analyst Alan Dershowitz . `` It 's a serious legal issue , '' Dershowitz said on CNN 's `` Wolf , '' adding that the issue will likely reach the Supreme Court but not via Paul 's suit because of it 's difficult to show that people were harmed by the surveillance . `` This is more of a political action than an action that has a chance of succeeding on its merits . ''
Paul filed a class action suit against President Paul over surveillance . Rand Paul has ambitions for the 2016 American presidential nomination . He is asking for suit participants ' email addresses through his Tea Party Patriots .