Republican senator opposes idea of using army in deportations

Republican Senator Rand Paul voiced opposition on Nov. 24 to the idea of using the military to carry out mass deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally, after President-elect Donald Trump signaled last week that he plans to do so.

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"You don't do it with the army because it's illegal," Mr. Paul said on CBS' Face the Nation program. "If they send the army into New York and you have 10,000 troops marching carrying semi-automatic weapons, I think it's a terrible image, and I will oppose that."

A 19th-century U.S. law prohibits federal troops from being used in domestic law enforcement except when authorized by Congress.

Mr. Paul, at times a maverick within his party, noted that he supports the idea of deporting people who have criminal records and are living in the U.S. illegally, but said the law enforcement authorities are better equipped than the military to carry out that role and to heed the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.

There is a "distrust of putting the army into our streets" among Americans, he said.