Hours before the Senate votes on whether to arm Syrian rebels to fight ISIS , a thinly veiled smackdown broke out on Thursday between Sens . Rand Paul and John McCain about the issue . It was the latest episode in a public feud that has implications over the future of the Republican Party . Paul railed against the notion that arming Syrian rebels is going to be an effective tactic to fight ISIS , lambasting what he called `` barnacled enablers '' for pushing a policy that he said will harm American interests in the long run . `` They 've never met a war they did n't like , '' Paul said on the Senate floor Thursday of the `` Washington crowd '' without naming names . Paul has been embroiled in a bitter debate within his party over foreign policy , especially with McCain . The debate between the two has become personal as McCain has labeled Paul an isolationist and as having a `` fundamental lack of understanding '' of international threats . Why Rand Paul ca n't shake isolationist image . Paul , who is considering a presidential run , did not mention McCain 's name , but references to the long-time Arizona Senator were peppered throughout . `` What we have here is a failure to understand , '' Paul said , that `` intervention creates chaos . '' In a very thinly veiled swipe , Paul once again brought up a debunked report that McCain took pictures with members of ISIS before he completely understood the dynamics of the group . `` To those who wish unlimited intervention and boots on the ground everywhere , remember the smiling poses of politicians pontificating about so-called freedom fighters and heroes in Libya , in Syria and Iraq unaware of that the so-called freedom fighters may well have been allied with kidnappers and killers and jihadists , '' Paul said . Paul says that arming Syrians before we have a complete understanding of who they are and where their alliances align is dangerous . `` It 's absurd , '' Paul said of the policy . `` We should n't be fighting alongside jihadists . '' Moments after Paul finished his speech , McCain took to the microphone and pushed back against that argument , insisting moderate fighters do exist in Syria . `` What 's their solution ? '' McCain rhetorically asked opponents , including Paul . This is Paul 's question : `` When will we quit listening to the advocates who have been wrong about every foreign policy position of the last two decades ? '' The Senate is voting on a government spending package to fund the government and in it is a measure to allow arming and training Syrian rebels .
Sen. Rand Paul called those pushing for the Syrians ` ` victims '' of terrorism . Paul has been embroiled in a bitter debate with Senator John McCain over foreign policy . Paul pushed back against the criticism that moderate fighters do n't exist in Syria .