Rand and Ron Paul ride to the rescue for Bundy in Nevada standoff with feds

Defiant Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy received some key but qualified support in his still-unresolved standoff with the Obama administration.

Libertarian icons ex-Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and his son, Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, both came out with critical comments on the federal governments handling of the land dispute, while the Nevada Cattlemens Association broke its silence on the dispute Wednesday with harsh words of its own for the feds.

SEE ALSO: Obama administrations Culture of intimidation seen in Nevada ranch standoff

The NCAs careful statement noted the group does not condone actions that are outside the law, in which citizens take the law into their own hands, but it noted that Mr. Bundy and his family were provoked by the policy of the Interior Departments Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Ranchers such as Mr. Bundy have found themselves with their backs against the wall as, increasingly, federal regulations have infringed on their public land grazing rights and the multiple-use management principle, the association said. This is not only devastating to individual ranching families; it is also causing rural communities in the West to wither on the vine.

The senior Mr. Paul also criticized what he said was overkill in the armed confrontation that nearly led to violence before the BLM stood down over the weekend.

They may come back with a lot more force, like they did at Waco with the Davidians, the senior Mr. Paul said on Fox News, referencing the 1993 Branch Davidian standoff in Texas that left nearly 100 people dead.

His son, Rand Paul, became one of the first of the 2016 contenders to weigh in on the dispute, criticizing the heavy federal enforcement array in the confrontation.

The federal government shouldnt violate the law, nor should we have 48 federal agencies carrying weapons and having SWAT teams, Mr. Paul said on a Kentucky radio station.

The younger Mr. Paul also appealed for the Bundy family, which does not recognize the federal governments jurisdiction over the disputed lands, to seek redress nonviolently.

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Rand and Ron Paul ride to the rescue for Bundy in Nevada standoff with feds