With Rand Paul out of the race, is there anyone left to fight the NSA?

[Commentary] Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) is dropping out of the race for the White House. With him goes the most substantial critic of the National Security Agency in the Republican field.

Sen Paul's libertarian position often put him at odds with other GOP candidates, who, during debates and public statements, tried to out-hawk other candidates on national security issues. In one particularly memorably debate, he traded jabs with Gov Chris Christie (R-NJ), a former federal prosecutor who proudly said that he was "the only person on this stage who's actually filed applications under the Patriot Act." Sen Paul responded by saying he wanted "more records from terrorists, but less records from innocent Americans." The remaining contenders for the presidency take widely varying stances on NSA surveillance, from supporting some minor changes (Gov John Kasich (R-OH)) to planning an expansion of surveillance powers (several others) to dismantling the agency's program (Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT)). Still, no one else has made surveillance an issue on the same level as Sen Paul, who frequently brought up the NSA at debates and in Congress. With him gone, it's possible the issue may be pushed further into the background.