Sen. Paul Stays NSA's Hand, Incurs Bipartisan Fury

A Capitol Hill showdown has forced the National Security Agency to stop collecting Americans' phone records in bulk.

Senators met Sunday for a special session, but they still missed a midnight deadline to keep the U.S. Patriot Act from expiring.

That means key parts of the program have lapsed. The NSA cannot collect phone records in bulk and the FBI cannot use roving wiretaps to monitor suspects as they change phones.

Senators failed to take action Sunday thanks to senator and presidential candidate Rand Paul, R-Ky. Paul used Senate rules to delay a final vote for several days.

"We are not collecting the information of terrorists," Paul said. "We are collecting all American citizens' records all of the time."

Civil liberties groups cheered the move, but other Republicans were furious, including Paul's fellow senator from Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"I think it should be worrying for our country because the nature of the threat we face is very serious as our enemies grow more sophisticated and aggressive," McConnell said.

Intelligence officials are warning that the lapse, however temporary, puts the nation at risk, with terror groups like ISIS and al Qaeda ready to expose any cracks in the nation's national security.

"Heaven forbid, we've got a problem where we could have prevented a terrorist attack, but we didn't do so simply because of inaction in the Senate," President Barack Obama said.

The latest debate over privacy vs. national security and government surveillance comes as more Americans say they'll give up personal privacy to let the government investigate terror threats.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll earlier this year found a 2-to-1 margin, with 63 percent favoring surveillance over privacy.

That's not surprising given recent events like the terror attacks in Paris and the rise of ISIS. The question is what kind of legislation will Washington lawmakers pass?

The Senate has agreed to begin debate on a House bill -- the U.S. Freedom Act -- which the president supports. It ends the NSA's bulk collection of phone records but allows the agency to search the records of phone companies.