“We need to open up government,” Paul said. “And it does require conversation. But the president is the one saying he won’t negotiate. And now it’s Senate Democrats saying we used to want to clean C.R. but we think you’re squirming, so now we want to raise spending and break the budget caps. So I think we’re seeing the Senate Democrats are getting greedy about this whole thing.”

Crowley asked if the GOP’s record-low approval ratings were giving Paul any pause. Paul turned it around on “Democrats who think this is a parlor game, who think this is fun.”

“Here’s what the Democrats think,” he said. “They think, ‘We’ll send government workers out there to close off the roadside viewing of Mt. Rushmore because that’ll funny?’ I don’t think it is funny. I think Democrats and Republicans will catch blame. I don’t want to be here. I don’t see this as winning or losing. This is a lose-lose situation.”