After all, it was Paul who, at a Jan. 25 forum sponsored by the Koch brothers, took a stand against two of his potential presidential rivals, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, over whether the Obama administration’s diplomacy with Iran should be given a chance before further sanctions are put in place. 

“Are you ready to send ground troops into Iran? Are you ready to bomb them? Are you ready to send in 100,000 troops?” Paul asked his fellow senators. “I’m a big fan of trying to exert and trying the diplomatic option as long as we can. If it fails, I will vote to resume sanctions and I would vote to have new sanctions. But if you do it in the middle of negotiations, you’re ruining it.”