Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said of President Obama's State of the Union Address vow to use executive orders to bypass Congress was "not very conciliatory, to say, you know, my way or the highway," in an interview that was broadcast live, today, Jan. 29, 2014 on CBS This Morning (7:00-9:00 AM) on the CBS Television Network.
"There's a little bit of a subtle threat there, either do it or else," Paul told Co-hosts Norah O'Donnell and Charlie Rose. "The thing is, there's a bigger question here. This isn't about me being a Republican or him being a Democrat. It's about power, checks and balances, and democracy is messy. Democracy involves debate, going back and forth, trying to convince people on the other side to come your way and so really saying 'I've got a pen and a phone,' there is a certain amount of arrogance to that."
Sen. Paul also addressed the issue of poverty in the United States, as well as his recent comments on the Clinton-Lewinsky affair, telling CBS, "I don't know if it makes any difference now or not," but "there's a question of hypocrisy, and people dislike hypocrisy."
Excerpts of the interview are below. Watch the appearance below:
CHARLIE ROSE: Why did the Republicans need four responses?
SEN. RAND PAUL: If you count it up, we probably had hundreds of responses, I gave a response every year. We live in an age of everybody has access to YouTube, the Internet. We have a response every year. I didn't see them as competing, I saw them as complementary.
ROSE: What was your biggest complaint about the
State of the Union speech?
PAUL: You know, I think it's not very conciliatory to say, you know, "my way or the highway," you do either the way I want or I'll do it anyway.
ROSE: That's not what he said, Senator, as you know. He said, "I'd like to cooperate, I'd like find some common ground, I hope we can do this."
PAUL: But, Charlie, there's a little bit of a subtle threat there, either do it or else. The thing is, there's a bigger question here. This isn't about me being a Republican or him being a Democrat. It's about power, checks and balances, and Democracy is messy. Democracy involves debate, going back and forth trying to convince people on the other side to come your way and so really saying 'I've got a pen and a phone,' there is a certain amount of arrogance to that.
