U.S. Sen. Rand Paul grabbed headlines after he spent 10 and a half hours on the Senate floor on Wednesday arguing why Congress should put an end to the NSA surveillance program.

Paul, who is running in the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, lambasted the notorious government spying programs along with key parts of the Patriot Act, which is set to expire on June 1, reports CNN.

"There comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate and liberty and privacy to suffer," Paul said as he opened his remarks Wednesday afternoon, reports Politico. "That time is now. And I will not let the PATRIOT Act -- the most unpatriotic of acts -- go unchallenged."

During his talk-a-thon, both Democratic and Republican senators showed support for Paul's fight for American civil liberties by speaking on the issue to give him a break.

"I'm entirely in agreement with my friend the senator from Kentucky," GOP Sen. Ted Cruz said at one point. "It is abundantly clear that a clean reauthorization of the Patriot Act ain't passing this body, and it certainly ain't passing the House of Representatives."

Because the Republican senator's talk-a-thon continued to nearly midnight, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was able to file cloture on a Senate bill to extend or reform the Patriot Act.

"I think we accomplished something," Paul said once it was over. "It was kinda nice to have bipartisan support and having people come down. I think really there's unanimity among a lot of us that the bulk collection ought to end."

"The word is: We won't get any time to actually debate whether or not we're going to abridge the Fourth Amendment, whether or not we're going to accept something that one of the highest courts in our land has said is illegal," Paul said. "Are we going to accept that without any debate?"