Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is putting his weight behind controversial spying programs at the National Security Agency, setting up a battle within the Republican Party ahead of the 2016 presidential race.<\/p>\n
In a major foreign policy address at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on Wednesday, the likely presidential candidate praised the NSA\u2019s bulk collection of Americans\u2019 phone data, which critics call a massive invasion of privacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a hugely important program to use these technologies to keep us safe,\u201d Bush said.
\n\u201cFor the life of me, I don\u2019t understand [how] the debate has gotten off-track,\u201d he added, while maintaining that program rules \u201cdo protect our civil liberties.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defense of the program puts Bush at odds with the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).<\/p>\n
Paul, who is expected to announce his own bid for presidency later this year, has long been a vocal critic of the NSA, and last year sued the Obama administration over the spy agency\u2019s phone records program.<\/p>\n
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who may also be eyeing a run for the White House, has also emerged as a critic of the NSA program.<\/p>\n
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Critics say the program violates Americans\u2019 right to privacy, but defenders say it is critical to connecting the dots between terrorists.<\/p>\n
The program \u201ccontributes to an awareness of potential terror cells and interdiction efforts on a global scale,\u201d Bush said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Bush will find support in that opinion from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another potential 2016 candidate who is often referred to as a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the former governor.<\/p>\n