Savannah Guthrie subjected Senator Rand Paul to a series of tough questions about the government shutdown on Sunday's "Meet the Press."
The government has been shut down since Tuesday as a result of the standoff over Obamacare in Congress. Paul and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were recently caught on a hot mic discussing their messaging efforts to avert blame for the shutdown.
Guthrie grilled Paul about the comments on Sunday, saying, "Do you in Washington, do all of you have any idea how totally disgusted the American people are with these antics?"
Paul said it was a "legitimate" concern. "Government should never shut down if we're doing our job appropriately, so really, what we need to be saying is why are we not passing spending bills the way we should do it," he continued.
Guthrie continued to hold his feet to the fire, asking him in succession:
"Do you take any responsibility for the tone, for your part in this?"
"Do you think this strategy, shutting down the government, which two-thirds of Americans don't like as a tactic even if they don't like Obamacare, do you think that's potentially undercutting the Republicans' chances of winning something beyond the House of Representatives, either the Senate or the White House?"
"If [Democrats] like it being closed, why would you fall into that trap?"
"Will Republicans let this country go into default?"
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