Has the Tea Party gone Democrat?

"The Senate-amended bill now heads back to the House, which a day earlier passed a different version granting a nine-month extension to three Patriot Act provisions scheduled to sunset at the end of this month," Politico reports.

The three provisions in question are those authorizing court-approved wiretaps, those giving the FBI access to library records and other documents "considered relevant to a terrorism investigation."

"The third, the so-called “lone wolf” provision, involves the surveillance of suspected terrorists not linked to a specific terrorist organization."

The measure was easily approved, with only 10 Democrats and two Republicans, "Tea-party"-backed Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), voting against the bill.

Paul came out strongly against the entire law in a YouTube video, hearkening back to colonial times and the intent of the Constitution in protecting civil liberties:

"Political rights cannot be secured without procedural protections," he said.

In a companion letter of opposition, Rand decried what he believes to be the "police state" that the Patriot Act allows.