Republicans Divided Over NSA Surveillance Renewal

With a May deadline approaching, Republican lawmakers are divided about whether to reauthorize the National Security Agency's controversial surveillance program which was explosively revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has introduced a bill to reauthorize the bulk collection of phone records under the Patriot Act until 2020, The Washington Post reported.

McConnell, and co-sponsor Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, are finding themselves at odds with colleagues, including members of their own party, who want to see an end to the program.

Presidential candidates Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are both opposed to the program, suggesting the issue could become a theme in the 2016 election.

"The split highlights the persistent divisions between libertarian-leaning Republicans who see NSA spying as a threat to Americans' privacy and GOP national security hawks who don't want to tamper with the U.S. intelligence apparatus," Politico said.

The move has also prompted opposition from Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, who has been working on legislation through his committee to end the government's mass collection of data.

"Despite overwhelming consensus that the bulk collection of Americans' phone records under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act must end, Senate Republican leaders are proposing to extend that authority without change," he said in a statement Tuesday night, according to the Post.

"This tone deaf attempt to pave the way for five and a half more years of unchecked surveillance will not succeed. I will oppose any reauthorization of Section 215 that does not contain meaningful reforms."

In the House, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, is expected to introduce a measure by Wednesday that would put an end to most bulk data collection. It would also include other reforms, Politico reported.

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