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Piece of this puzzle. >> ben, in terms of the president, sort of who he is, he's a constitutional law professor. i'm sure none of these decisions were made lightly. i'm sure he's at his best, these are tough choices. he brings transparency to the issue. given how his hands are tied legislatively in terms of passing any laws in the second term, it seems like this is one area where he can really dig in and sort of substantively try and change things in a way that comports with who he is morally with a man. >> he wants to ensure a national security apparatus consistent with our values. there will...

Smarter and tougher on crime. [applause] >> holder also endorsed so-called smarter sentencing legislation introduced in the senate by an odd coalition of liberal and tea party conservative senators. >> anybody raising objections to the changes? >> yes. some prosecutors think there's much ado about very little here. to begin with, 95% of all criminal prosecutionses are handled by state and local prosecutors, not the u.s. attorneys. they say state and local prosecutors already exercise the kind of discretion that holder is emphasizing. >> i think it's probably unprecedented for a sitting united ...

Cannot refuse them recognition. now comes the ruling in the california same-sex marriage ban, proposition 8. and it's an unusual ruling. it's one that brings together an odd coalition of justices, two conservatives, three liberals. jeffrey toobin, what exactly did the court decide here? >> you know, i'm not afraid to say, jake, that this is a puzzling decision. it's a puzzling lineup of justices. let me just say who's on which side. this decision in the california proposition 8 case is written by chief justice roberts. it is joined by justice scalia, justice ginsburg, justice brier, and justic...

>> i've accomplished some things in my life that allow me to have that kind of discretion to be able to think about it. >> senator rand paul's filibuster stole the show, however, winning praise from an odd coalition of conservatives, many of whom don't even support what he's trying to do. >> a man who is, i believe, going to be the logical choice for president of the united states -- >> this is a terrific performance of leadership, of courage, of stamina, determination. >> the e-mails came flying in. twitter was going nuts. >> this was to me a seminal event last night that could change the dir...

By themselves without any scrutiny because that's not how american democracy works. >> senate majority leader harry reid tried to put an end to paul's effort. >> the rest of the body needs to know if we're going to finish tonight or tomorrow or the next day. >> as the hour got late, an odd coalition formed around paul including several senators who haven't agreed with him on this issue in the past. as it was clear, the filibuster was popular on twitter and grassroots conservatives, as midnight approached, things got a bit punchy. >> stand with rand is trending worldwide. that's pretty darn coo...