Ted Cruz Begins His 'Defund Obamacare' Speech, And Says He'll Speak Until He's 'No Longer Able To Stand'

Ted Cruz rose in the Senate today in opposition to including funding for the Affordable Care Act in the bill to keep the government funded.

"I rise today in opposition to Obamacare," Cruz said after being recognized on the Senate floor. He declared he would speak "until I am no longer able to stand."

That's almost true - he'll have to stop talking Wednesday around noon whether he is still talking or not.

Though it's reminiscent of Rand Paul's filibuster of CIA director John Brennan's nomination in March, Cruz is not actually participating in a filibuster - because he doesn't have any real power to prevent a vote from happening on Wednesday.

"This is not a filibuster," a Senate Democratic aide said. "Since cloture has been filed, the cloture vote will occur tomorrow no matter how long Senator Cruz speaks. This is not anything tricky, just basic Senate rules."

Cruz began speaking at 2:41:35 p.m.