Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) showed again on Thursday that the freshman Republican isn't scared to throw sand in the gears of the Senate - or delay the rush out of town by fellow lawmakers - as he forced a lengthier debate on extending three provisions of the anti-terror Patriot Act.

Despite the opposition of Paul and others, the Senate easily broke a filibuster to force final action on the bill, paving the way for final approval by the Congress of a four year extension of three different expiring provisions of the law.

The interesting part about the final votes in the House and Senate was that many more Democrats voted against the plan than Republicans, as it's obvious the opposition to the anti-terror law's specifics are rooted much more on the liberal side of the Democratic Party than the Tea Party side of the GOP.

"National security vs. personal liberty is almost always a false choice," said Rep. Chris Murphy, a House Democrat running for Senate next year.

As for the three provisions at issue, which were never made permanent by the Congress after Nine Eleven, they cover: