Rand Paul: Citizens reentering U.S. having their phones searched is 'obscene

A shocking statistic from the Department of Homeland Security has appeared recently shown that cell phone searches of U.S. citizens reentering the country has gone from 5,000 in 2015 to 25,000 in 2016.

This is something Kentucky Senator Rand Paul finds "obscene," or so he puts it when he was questioning DHS Secretary John Kelly during a hearing for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

"We've gone from 5,000 people having their cell phones searched, to 25,000," said Paul. "We are denying people entry who are citizens or green card holders who are coming back home, and your department is saying to them you cannot return to your home without giving us your fingerprint, and giving us all the data on your phone."

Paul made it clear that he understands the difference between a citizen, and a visitor, and that sometimes safety measures are warranted, sometimes in the form of denying someone entry into the country, however this does not need to apply to citizens.

"I could travel abroad, and be told I cannot enter America unless I let you look at my phone. That's obscene," said Paul. "

Kelly maintained that the reported statistics were untrue, and that citizens were not being denied entry without giving up their phones. However, Paul maintains that the DHS's own numbers don't lie.

Watch the exchange below:

Due to this information, a bipartisan bill has been drawn up that would require border agents to have a warrant before they searched the phones of any American citizen, or green card holder. According to CNN, the legislation has been introduced in both the House, and Senate, by both Democrats, and Republicans.

Privacy hawks Sens. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, and Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, introduced it in the Senate, and Reps. Jared Polis, a Democrat from Colorado, and Blake Farenthold, a Republican from Texas, sponsored it in the House.