Sen. Lee: Rand Paul Called Attention to Budget Bill Issues

The budget deal reached last week that suspends the nation's debt limit until 2017 allows an open checkbook for the federal government, Sen. Mike Lee said Wednesday, explaining why he posted a now-viral video on Facebook of GOP candidate Rand Paul speaking out about the bill.

The video has been shared 1.25 million times, and Lee told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" that's because Americans are shocked by how quickly it was passed and how quietly the vote was held.

"He's talking about a bill that was passed in the Senate last week that took $150 billion from the Social Security Trust Fund, that busted our spending caps to the tune of $80 billion, took $1.5 billion from the crime victims' trust fund, and decided we're going to sell a whole bunch of oil at historically low prices all to may for immediate concerns," Lee told the program.

And Americans are upset because they understand that "this is robbing Peter to pay Paul," Lee said, and by how the bill passed.

"They're upset by the fact we did this in the middle of the night on a rush basis," said Lee. "No committee action, no opportunity for review or amendment by the American people and their elected representatives. This is a problem. The American people deserve better."

The video has also reached 60 million people, more than the number that watched all three Republican presidential debates combined, Lee told the program.

"The American people are frustrated by what's happening in Washington," Lee said. "They're worried about the how. They're bothered by the fact that this was rushed through at the last minute ... they don't want that."

But passing the debt limit suspension also means that "as much as needs to be borrowed and whatever demands the federal government has at the time, they can borrow," he said.

"This is a disturbing trend. In the past Congress would raise the debt limit by a specified dollar amount. It's no longer doing that. It's now just suspending the debt ceiling. It's sort of a debt ceiling Mardi Gras."

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