Republican lawmakers, about 15 from the House of Representatives and another dozen from the Senate, flocked to the Senate floor in support of Rand Paul's 13-hour filibuster that held up progress in the confirmation hearing of CIA Director nominee John Brennan on Wednesday.

Paul’s filibuster was the ninth-longest filibuster in the history of the Senate, coming in behind West Virginian Senator Robert Byrd, who held the floor for 14 hours and 13 minutes when he filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

It wasn’t lack of words that drove Paul to end his long-winded oratory, but the need for a bathroom break that did so. Towards the end of his filibuster, Paul joked about it, saying Wednesday night, “I discovered that there are some limits to filibustering, and I’m going to have to go and take care of one of those in a few minutes.”

Later, while talking to Conservative Talk Show Host Glenn Beck, Paul said that he had considered using a catheter for his speaking event but ruled it out, saying”I did think about it, and I’ve put them in before and really decided against it.”

The declared intent of the filibuster that began at 11:47am, and took most of Wednesday and into the night was to bring attention to the use of drones to target U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.

Rand Paul began the filibuster by saying, “No American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court. That Americans could be killed in a cafe in San Francisco or in a restaurant in Houston or at their home in bowling green, Kentucky, is an abomination.”

During Paul’s filibuster on the Senate floor, Arizona Senator John McCain and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham were among a group of Republican Senators sharing a meal with President Obama.

Senator Graham would later remark on the Senate floor on Thursday on Paul’s query whether President Obama has the authority to kill non-combatants on American soil, saying, “I find the question offensive.” He also pointed out that even though he disagrees with the president on many occasion, he believed that the question did not deserve an answer.

Senator McCain said Thursday that the conversation shoiuld be carried out with in-depth debates and hearings, “but that conversation should not be talking about drones killing Jane Fonda and people in cafes. It should be all about what authority and what checks and balances should exist.”

When Attorney General Eric Holder spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he related that he did not believe that the use of a drone to kill an American citizen on American soil would not be an appropriate use of force if that person did not pose an imminent and significant threat to the United States.