Paul giving Tea Party reaction to Obama

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ATLANTA, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Sunday his planned Tea Party reaction to President Obama's State of the Union speech won't be divisive in the Republican Party.

In an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Paul said his planned reaction on behalf of the Tea Party will be separate from the Republican reaction by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., because members of of the Tea Party "want an independent voice."

"I think it just shows that there is a movement in the Republican Party, that has been very vocal, I think particularly in the 2010 election, there was a big movement that helped us win elections. There's a lot of energy that still comes from the Tea Party, and while they consider themselves mostly to be Republican, they occasionally will chastise even the Republican establishment," Paul said.

He said just because he is providing a separate response from the GOP, doesn't mean the two "necessarily disagree."

"You know, I think to me I see it as an extra response, I don't see it necessarily divisive. You know I won't say anything on there that necessarily is like Marco Rubio is wrong," Paul said.

Paul said he anticipates Obama will talk about raising taxes during his State of the Union speech Tuesday.

"I'll talk about the Republican message, which is we believe you stimulate the economy by reducing taxes, not revenue neutral, I mean really reducing taxes, cutting corporate tax in half, cutting the personal income tax, and the fact that you actually sometimes bring in more revenue when you cut tax rates," Paul said.