Former Texas Congressman Ron Paul slammed the NSA surveillance program last Thursday, calling the classified data collection effort evidence of “a government that continues to erode our liberties while promising some glimmering hope of security.”

Last week, The Guardian revealed the existence of a court order mandating that Verizon give millions of Americans’ phone records to the National Security Agency. Then, The Washington Post said that the U.S. government is also monitoring the servers of nine major U.S. Internet companies and gathering photos, videos, documents, as well as other online activities.

“I opposed and continue to oppose the Patriot Act because I believe it throws the Fourth Amendment right out the window. It is certainly not patriotic to support warrantless wiretaps, blanket ‘metadata’ collection, and spying on innocent American citizens,” Paul said in a statement obtained by Campaign for Liberty.

Over the weekend, The Guardian revealed 29-year-old Edward Snowden as the source of the leak on the NSA surveillance program. According to the newspaper, Snowden is a former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of Booz Allen Hamilton. As an employee of this company and Dell, Snowden did contract work for the NSA for the last four years.

The Washington Post reports that Snowden is apparently a Ron Paul supporter, having given $250 to the Texas Republican’s presidential campaign twice in 2012. Snowden also told the Guardian that he backed a third-party candidate for president in 2008. Though Paul ran for the Republican party nomination in 2008, the former congressman ran for president as the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988.

Do you think that the NSA surveillance program is unconstitutional? Do you support the Patriot Act? Should Snowden be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law? Is Paul right when he says that the NSA surveillance program is an example of “a government that continues to erode our liberties?” Sound off in the comments section.