Rand: Senate Needs to Vote on Iran and ‘We’re Not Voting For a Bad Deal’

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) argued that the Senate should be allowed to vote on any Iran deal agreed to by the administration and declared “it’s going to have to be a good deal or no deal” on Tuesday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.

Paul praised Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, saying “I thought he did a good job of framing the issue, and broader context [other] than just nuclear enrichment. He talked about state sponsorship of terrorism throughout the Middle East. he talked about their conventional weaponry, intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as the nuclear threat, and I guess he made a good point that any kind of agreement that doesn’t have them saying ‘oh, we’re giving up on terrorism, we’re giving up on global or regional dominance,’ really is that a good bargain, or is it a good deal? I thought the other point that he made that was good was it’s not just any old deal or no deal, that maybe we could actually have a better deal, and that he wasn’t against negotiation. And I like that he concluded by saying that his goal is peace, and I think sometimes in all of the tough talk, we forget that Israel wants peace, the United States wants peace, and that negotiations can come to an outcome, but they shouldn’t come to a bad deal.”

Paul continued, “I signed on to a bill today that Senator [Bob] Corker’s (R-TN) putting forward, and this bill we think will give, if there is a backbone in the administration, it should give them backbone and give should them strength to negotiate from a position of strength. This bill would say, and very explicitly say, that any deal has to be voted on by Congress, that should let the administration know that we’re not going to take any old deal. It should give them resolve, and hopefully, if the deal’s not permanent, and Iran’s backing away saying it’s already too much, the administration will realize from their perspective that we’re not voting for a bad deal. It’s going to have to be a good deal or no deal.”

Paul also discussed his vote on the clean DHS funding bill, stating “I voted against all these collections when they throw all the spending in one bill. Because I think that’s how we got to an $18 trillion debt. I also think it’s very important that the executive branch not be allowed to legislate. Montesquieu said that would be a form of tyranny when the president begins to legislate. So, it’s a rotten deal, it’s something that’s so important that goes to the core of a constitutional republic, that I will stay firm and I will not vote for anything that allows these executive orders to go through. Because I think it’s lawless and unconstitutional.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett