Sen. Rand Paul , a fierce critic of the National Security Agency 's domestic surveillance programs , will oppose the NSA reform bill in the Senate in large part because it includes an extension of the Patriot Act , a senior Paul aide said Friday . Known as the USA Freedom Act and proposed by Sen. Patrick Leahy , D-Vermont , the bill bans bulk collection of Americans ' phone records by placing narrower limitations on government searches . Read the bill 's text | Supporters . The legislation also extends the Patriot Act 's sunset from June 2015 to December 2017 . The Senate will vote probably next Tuesday whether to take up and begin debate on the bill . It 's unclear if they 'll have the votes to move forward , but with Paul 's opposition , it will make it that much tougher to clear that procedural hurdle . Paul `` strongly favors reforming the NSA '' and while he may have been expected to support the current bill , a senior aide said the Kentucky Republican wo n't back the legislation . `` Due to significant problems with the bill , at this point he will oppose the Leahy bill , '' the aide told CNN . The aide pointed out the extension of the Patriot Act as a key issue , but declined to name other `` significant problems . '' Obama , Congress working on changes to NSA . The aide said that if the Patriot Act provision were dropped from the bill and if some of the reforms were strengthened , Paul would be more likely to support it . The bill 's Republican sponsors include Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah , Ted Cruz of Texas , and Dean Heller of Nevada . Democratic sponsors include Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts , Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Dick Durbin of Illinois , among others . NSA reform efforts began in earnest after former contractor Edward Snowden revealed the scope of the agency 's domestic spying program last year . Paul earlier this year filed a lawsuit against the government over its phone metadata collection effort , but the lawsuit was eventually put on hold .
Rand ##i plans to introduce the first reform bill that will get voted on next week . He 's a staunch critic of the NSA but does n't approve of the bill 's renewal of the Patriot Act . The bill has bipartisan support from a wide array of senators .