Not surprising. The Democrats have been adopting Bush policies over the entire Obama administration, why not adopt the tactics?
The great difference: President Obama reacts cautiously to real dangers to America -- like ISIS. Dubya reacted rashly to fabricated dangers to America.
ISIS is about as much of a "threat to America" as Saddam Hussein was.
I see this as Rand Paul once again hitting that centrist, populist chord that everyone else in the 2016 elections will likely miss. (Save for maybe Elizabeth Warren on the economy.) Whether he can ride that to the nomination or the presidency, even if he avoids his other problems (including a tendency to put his foot in his mouth), I don't know.
I'm sorry, but did you really just call Rand Paul a populist? 
He's like the polar opposite of a populist on economic issues. Btw, as much as I like Warren's views on most economic issues she's not a populist either (too much of an intellectual, non-demagogic speaking style). If you want examples of Populists, look at Huey Long, William Jennings Bryan, Brian Schweitzer, etc. Folks like Warren, Sanders, Sherrod Brown, etc are among the few speaking to the economic concerns of blue-collar workers and the poor/middle-class, but that doesn't make them populists.
There isn't really a "populist" position on any issue.
