2026年3月29日 / 美国东部时间下午1:45 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
特朗普总统下令对伊朗发动空袭的决定获得了大多数参议院共和党人的支持，但肯塔基州参议员兰德·保罗是唯一的反对者。
作为国土安全委员会主席的保罗表示，特朗普先生未经国会批准就采取行动是错误的，并认为总统在没有获得国会批准或不存在迫在眉睫的袭击威胁的情况下，无权启动任何军事行动。对这位参议员来说，当下正考验着由共和党掌控的国会是否会如其国父之一詹姆斯·麦迪逊所期望的那样，捍卫自身的权力。
“麦迪逊曾说过，我们会赋予立法机构某些权力，赋予总统某些权力。当双方都试图攫取权力时，它们会相互制衡，”保罗说道，“我认为我们的开国元勋们从未想象过如今的国会会如此缺乏雄心壮志。他们不会对总统进行制衡。”
至于制衡特朗普先生，保罗早在十多年前就开始这么做了，当时两人在2016年总统大选前都参与了共和党总统候选人角逐。从那以后，两人的关系基本得到了修复。但当保罗认为鹰派顾问在左右总统时，他会毫不畏惧地与特朗普先生决裂。
“我认为他被一些更为激进的人误导了，”保罗说道，他补充称总统“本质上的本能是希望减少战争”。
如果伊朗局势升级并持续下去，保罗表示政治和经济代价将十分高昂。
“从政治格局来看，我认为这场冲突持续的时间越长，共和党保住众议院和参议院席位的可能性就越小，”这位参议员说道。他认为，随着特朗普政府申请额外2000亿美元战争拨款，国会共和党人可能很快会再次面临严峻考验。
保罗表示，他不会为这项追加拨款法案投票，因为他不希望战争继续下去。五角大楼尚未专门就保罗的投票决定作出回应。
“大多数人会接受这种说法，说‘哦，你不能停止为他们提供资金。他们在海外作战’，”他在谈及海外士兵时说道，“但实际上，如果停止为他们提供资金，他们就会被撤回国内。”
在国内事务方面，因美国国土安全部全额拨款问题引发的部分政府停摆仍在持续，导致航空旅行陷入混乱，运输安全管理局的工作人员已经一个多月没有拿到工资。
上周五，特朗普先生签署了一项行政命令，动用去年年底通过的《一项庞大而美好的法案》中的资金来支付这些工作人员的工资。但保罗表示，政府将持续面临财政僵局。
“再过六个月，我们还会遇到类似的情况，对吧？拨款将于9月底到期，”他说道，因为国土安全部的拨款法案将在9月前有效。“所以，我并不反对这场斗争。事实上，我希望这场斗争是围绕预算增幅展开，而不是围绕薪资发放。”
在国土安全领域，情况变得更为棘手的是，保罗与特朗普先生新提名的国土安全部部长马克韦恩·穆林之间关系紧张。保罗反对穆林的提名，原因是穆林的个人品格以及他对2017年保罗遇袭事件的回应。
穆林在宣誓就职部长后的开场陈述中谈到了与保罗的冲突，称他“不会在挑战面前退缩”，同时也会承认自己的错误。
保罗表示，自穆林宣誓就职以来，两人还没有进行过交谈，但随着时间的推移，他们会“以专业的方式开展工作”。
这位参议员对肯塔基州众议员汤姆·马西的支持，是特朗普与保罗之间的另一个冲突点。马西同样是自由主义者和共和党人，他批评特朗普政府处理杰弗里·爱泼斯坦相关文件的方式。特朗普已经背书了马西在肯塔基州初选中的对手埃德·加莱恩，这位候选人知名度不高，但坚定支持特朗普。
“你可以同时喜欢唐纳德·特朗普和托马斯·马西，因为他们代表了很多相同的理念，”保罗说道，“但马西所代表的独立精神，我认为这是立法者应有的品质。如果你想要一个橡皮图章式的议员，那我们干脆用人工智能就行了。”
保罗的特立独行风格继承自他的父亲——前得克萨斯州众议员罗恩·保罗，一位自由主义偶像，曾三次参选总统。距离2028年大选越来越近，这位参议员表示他并没有排除再次参选的可能。
“我们正在考虑此事，我可以说概率是五五开，”他说道，并补充称他打算在中期选举后做出决定。“但我不会为了参选而去参选。首先，因为我们需要一个自由市场派别的声音。我们需要党内有一个自由贸易派别的声音。我们还需要党内有一个不急于发动战争、至少会将外交作为战争替代方案的派别。”
Sen. Rand Paul on his confrontation of Trump and Senate GOP over Iran strikes
March 29, 2026 / 1:45 PM EDT / CBS News
President Trump’s decision to launch strikes against Iran has won support from most Senate Republicans, but Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is the lone exception.
Paul, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said Mr. Trump should not have acted without congressional approval and argues that the president isn’t allowed to begin any military action in the absence of that approval or an imminent attack. For the senator, this moment is testing whether the Republican-controlled Congress will assert itself — as one of the country’s founding fathers, James Madison, intended.
“Madison said that we would give the legislature certain powers and the president certain powers. And as each tried to grasp for the power, they would check and balance each other,” said Paul. “I don’t think our founders ever imagined our current Congress that is completely lacking in ambition. They don’t check the president.”
As for checking Mr. Trump, Paul started doing that more than a decade ago, when they had competing White House bids leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Since then, the two have mostly patched things up. But the senator isn’t afraid to break with Mr. Trump, especially when he feels hawkish advisers are in the president’s ear.
“I think he was misled by some of the more aggressive people,” said Paul, adding that the president’s “basic instincts have been for less war.”
Should the Iran war escalate and continue, Paul said the political and economic costs could be significant.
“On the political landscape, I think the longer this goes on, the less likely Republicans are able to hold onto the House and Senate,” said the senator, who believes congressional Republicans may face another reckoning soon, as the Trump administration requests $200 billion of additional funding for the war.
Paul said he will not vote for the supplemental funding because he doesn’t want the war to continue. The Pentagon has not specifically responded to the news of how Paul has decided to vote.
“Most people will accept the argument and say, ‘Oh, you can’t quit funding ’em. They’re over there,’” he said of soldiers overseas. “But, actually, if they weren’t funded, they’d be brought home.”
Closer to home, the partial government shutdown continues over fully funding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, snarling air travel and causing Transportation Security Administration workers to go for more than a month without pay.
On Friday, Mr. Trump signed an executive order to pay them using funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill that was passed late last year. But the government, Paul says, will keep facing fiscal standoffs.
“We’re going to have another one of these in six months, you know? The spending will expire come the end of September,” he said, since the bill to fund DHS would be effective through September. “So, I’m not against the fight. In fact, I want to make the fight such that we’re fighting over the increases and not the salaries.”
Making things even trickier on the homeland front is Paul’s testy relationship with Mr. Trump’s new pick to run DHS, Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Paul opposed the nomination over Mullin’s character and response to a 2017 incident where Paul was assaulted.
Mullin addressed the conflict with Paul in his opening statement after being sworn in as secretary, saying he “won’t back down from a challenge” and will also admit when he’s wrong.
Paul said he hasn’t had a conversation with Mullin since he was sworn in, but they’ll “operate in a professional manner as time goes on.”
The senator’s support of Kentucky Rep. Tom Massie, another Libertarian and Republican critic of the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, is another flashpoint with Mr. Trump. The president has endorsed Ed Gallrein, Massie’s relatively unknown, pro-Trump opponent in the Kentucky primary election.
“You can like Donald Trump and Thomas Massie, because they represent a lot of the same things,” said Paul. “But Massie represents an independence of spirit that I think you want in your legislator. If you want a rubber stamp, we could just have AI.”
Paul’s maverick streak follows in the footsteps of his father, former Texas congressman Ron Paul, a Libertarian hero and three-time presidential hopeful. With the 2028 election just around the corner, the senator said he isn’t ruling out another run of his own.
“We’re thinking about it, and I would say 50/50,” he said, adding that he intends to decide after the midterms. “But I’m not going to do it just to do it. It would be, one, because we need to have a free market wing. We need to have a free trade wing in the party. And we need to have a wing of the party who’s not eager for war and tries to at least explore diplomacy as an option to war.”
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