During an appearance on CNN's "The Situation Room" on Thursday, Rep. Peter King chided Sen. Rand Paul's comparison of National Intelligence James Clapper to leaker Edward Snowden, POLITICO reported.

"For Sen. Paul to compare that patriot, Gen. Clapper, with someone like Snowden, who is a traitor, who has put American lives at risk, Sen. Paul should be ashamed of himself," King said. "It's an absolute disgrace. It's a disgrace to me, he disgraced his office and he owes Gen. Clapper an apology immediately."

King was referring to Paul's remark made earlier this week, where he said Clapper lying to Congress was more harmful to the U.S. than Snowden's leaks.

In March, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked Clapper in a congressional hearing if the National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting data from Americans. His response, "no, sir" was severely criticized in June after Snowden revealed information about data collecting programs, causing some members of Congress to accuse him of perjury.

King defended Clapper, saying he could "give the best answer he could" given the circumstances.

"The fact is Gen. Clapper was put in an impossible position, because the senator who asked the question had already gotten the information in a classified setting," King said. "He knew that Gen. Clapper could not give the full answer because it would let our enemies know what we were doing. The question was wrong. Gen. Clapper gave the best answer he could."

The New York congressman also explained why he declined to sign a letter created by his colleagues calling for Clapper's resignation.

"That comes from the isolationist wing of the party," he said. "These are people who are apologizing for America. To me, that is not the Republican tradition. That is not the tradition of Ronald Reagan. It's the tradition of Charles Lindbergh and the radical, left-wing democrats of the 1960s."

King, who is exploring the possibility of a presidential run in 2016, said he rejects the idea that the NSA data collecting programs have violated the rights of Americans.

"There is no NSA scandal," he said. "This commission or this group is caving in to political correctness. The fact is there are no Americans that have had their rights violated. No one's calls - no American citizens' calls are being listened to unless they're in contact with terrorists. No one's name is on file; no one's address is on file. This is a totally phony issue."