But this characterization prove problematic given that most of Rubio’s supporters in Congress supported changes to the NSA’s program. In fact, 21 of Rubio’s 24 Congressional supporters backed the USA Freedom Act – a bill Rubio has said, “weaken[s]… U.S. intelligence programs” – earlier this year (a 25th supporter, Rep. Darin LaHood, wasn’t in Congress at the time of the vote). And of these 21 members of Congress, more than a dozen previously co-sponsored a version of the USA Freedom Act in the previous Congress…

Chief among Rubio’s latest congressional endorsements is Rep. Trey Gowdy, a Republican Congressman whose support Rubio touted widely this week in Iowa. But Gowdy was a co-sponsor of the USA Freedom Act, the NSA reform bill that Rubio has so fiercely railed against. His office did not return a request for comment. Rep. Darrell Issa, another prominent Rubio backer, co-sponsored this year’s reforms.

Interestingly enough, the strongest proponents for the USA Freedom Act have come from within the NSA itself, as The Daily Beast previously reported. Senior intelligence officials have described the mass collection of phone records as unwieldy and expensive — and to boot, the database helped prevent few attacks, if any at all.