(CNN) - Republican Sen. Rand Paul said the nation’s top intelligence official should resign for “lying” to a Senate committee about mass data collection by the National Security Agency.
"I do think what your government is doing is unconstitutional, and I really think that in order to restore confidence in our intelligence community, I think James Clapper should resign," Paul said Wednesday on CNN's "The Situation Room."
Paul, also said actions by Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, have done more to compromise the credibility of the intelligence community than leaks from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
"I find that really, that Clapper lying to Congress is probably more injurious to our intelligent capabilities than anything Snowden did because Clapper has damaged the credibility of the entire intelligence apparatus, and I'm not sure what to believe anymore when it comes to Congress."
Snowden, Paul said, "technically" broke the law and "shouldn't get off scot-free" though what he did may qualify him as a whistleblower.
"I think there have to be rules about leaks. I don't think you can give away national security secrets, but at the same time, I'm very offended that the intelligence director lied to Congress, which is perjury and punishable by jail time," he said.
Paul has made similar comments about Clapper and lying.
Clapper has apologized to the Senate committee for giving members a "clearly erroneous" answer about the surveillance programs.
Paul's latest criticism comes two days after a federal judge in Washington ruled preliminarily that NSA data collection of telephone metadata was probably unconstitutional on privacy grounds.
Paul said he agreed but fell short of saying he would take action to sue the intelligence agency.
An independent review of NSA surveillance released Wednesday and ordered by President Barack Obama recommended that electronic surveillance of Americans at home and abroad should remain in place.
"I think even the President's own team now is coming up with recommendations that acknowledge that the President has allowed this to get away from himself," Paul said.
Paul, who has said he's considering a run for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, characterized Obama as being "glib" on the NSA surveillance controversy and blames the President “for not taking a better handle” on the situation.