keith boykin and jim pathokoupas are still with us.why not allow this to be done state by state democratically? why should these nine people make a decision for the entire country? >> i can think of most cases where it hasn't been done unanimously. if you'd done this with brown versus the board of education, you'd still have segregated schools in alabama. you can't put that on a ballot. these judges need to decide whether it's a constitutional right, not state by state. >> do you think this is a constitutional right? do you think it's a 14th amendment issue, or do you think this is about an individual? is this an issue about individual rights and expanding them under the constitution, or is this an important social and cultural issue which is evolving, which is changing? >> marriage itself -- it's a little bit of both, and i'll tell you why. marriage itself has always been in the province of the states. in all kinds of relationships like that -- marriage, divorce, child custody, for example -- and usually under the states' police power

and keith boykin and congressman schweikert are back.ur piece today in the national review stand with rand. there's a second part to this. if the u.s. is under attack this, is from the justice department, if the u.s. is under attack, if an imminent threat, president does have the authority to protect the country from that assault. do you disagree with that. does rand paul disagree with that? >> don't think so. there's a difference between a police sniper shooting someone who is holding a hostage and a police officer with a listing his pocket that he's allowed to shoot. we're not talking about killing people in the heat of battle or an act of terrorism. what we're talking about is drawing up lists of american citizens who are green lit for assassination whether in the united states or anywhere else. >> rand paul stood up for liberty. one last question. let's go back to 9/11. let's go back to horrible 9/11. if al qaeda had landed, besides blowing up the world trade center if they had land landed brigades and troops wouldn't we have a right

keith boykin, why can't the families get a vote on this? >> well, they deserve a vote.ortunately they won't be getting one because senator hire reid can chose to remove this from the bill coming forward. by dianne feinstein is exactly right. this is exactly something that the public deservees a vote. and even if it doesn't pass, let's get on record where people stand on the issues. this is something a majority of the american people believe in. i think harry reid is making the wrong mistake. even if this is a tactical decision because he want a bill that passes, what democrats do too often is lead from behind. in the sense they don't try to push as far as they can and they negotiate against themselves. this is what what is happening now. harry reid is negotiationing against dianne feinstein. i think diane is doing the right thing. >> this is senator from connecticut, the site of those shootings at newtown, take a look. >> we always knew it would be an uphill fight. we knew the opponent, staunch, ruthless. dianne feinstein is right. that these opponents won an initial ro

joining me now, washington post reporter aaron blake and democratic strategist keith boykin.hank you both for joining us. aaron, let me start with you. you heard congressman lewis say it is about courage. we heard the same argument as it relates to the discussion over gun safety and gun control as well. what do you make the comments now. and this week alone, several senators coming out incy port of same-sex marriage. >> i think the comparison between the guns issue and guy gay marriage is going in different directions. in the past decade with exception of periods after tragedies there's less support for gun control as we have gone along under the same period of time there is much more support for gay marriage and it is very clear where the trend line are going on both of those issues, in fact. so i think while on the guns issue, members of congress may not be so concerned about being on the wrong side of history. i think that's more and more after concern when it comes to gay marriage. >> keith, our team points out this puts bill clinton back in the spotlight and back to the