LONDONDERRY, N.H. — During an hour-long town hall meeting at the Lions Club, US Senator Rand Paul doubled-down Monday on his opposition to Patriot Act, a collection of laws billed as a means for the government to combat terrorism — key parts of which expire at the end of this month.
The Kentuckian vowed again to oppose the law that the federal government argues allows the National Security Agency to collect phone records from every American (a court recently ruled otherwise, asking Congress to take action). In response to a question, Paul said that he would remain open minded to voting for something that allowed federal agencies to apply for a warrant on specific individuals, but not give it blanket power to collect phone data.
The issue will come up frequently on the campaign trail in the coming weeks as the US Congress contemplates whether to reauthorize the parts of the Patriot Act scheduled to sunset at the end of May. In addition to Paul, several other US Senators are considering a bid or running for president: Republicans Marco Rubio from Florida, Ted Cruz from Texas, Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, plus one Democrat, Bernie Sanders from Vermont.
Paul returned to New Hampshire on the heels of a new poll that shows him tied for the top spot among first-in-the-nation GOP primary voters.
Paul was among four front-runners in Saint Anselm College/Bloomberg Politics poll of likely Republican primary voters next year. Paul and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker scored 12 percentage points each, followed by former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who each received 11 points. The poll, conducted by Purple Strategies, had a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent.
Twenty state representatives in New Hampshire have already backed Paul's campaign.
"We are excited to have so many state Representatives endorsing us right now. I think there is a lot of movement," Paul said. "I think there are a lot of people who want limited government and they are tired of getting middle of the road candidates."
Among those elected officials backing Paul is state Representative Victoria Sullivan, a Manchester Republican. Sullivan said she supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, but she was drawn to Paul this time because of his opposition to the Common Core educational standards.
Another Manchester Republican backer, state Representative Joseph Lachance, said Paul was the right combination of Republican and libertarian.
Paul also discussed changes to Social Security, including his plan to phase-in a raise to the retirement age and establishing a means test that would exclude richer Americans from getting these benefits.
"It is either that or you put your head in the sand and you say 'keep your hands off my Social Security,' but if you do that, the system will go belly up and there won't be Social Security for anybody," Paul said.
James Pindell can be reached at James.Pindell@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jamespindell.