Ron Paul to interrupt campaign to vote against debt ceiling hike

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Rep. Ron Paul said Tuesday he will pause his campaigning in South Carolina, just three days before the state's primary, to cast a "no" vote on Wednesday against raising the federal debt ceiling.

The Texas Republican - the only active member of Congress left in the GOP presidential field -- told a crowd of supporters during a town hall that the debt situation "is such a mess."

At a later rally in Rock Hill, Paul also described as a "super mess" the bipartisan "super committee" that unsuccessfully sought last year to find agreement on spending cuts as part of a debt-ceiling deal.

"It didn't work," he said of the failed effort. "So the cuts are sort of in place, but there's tremendous resistance so I don't predict they're coming. But they're not cuts. They're tinkering around with proposed increases."

Paul also repeated his standard argument that U.S. troops overseas be brought home, drawing huge applause when he said they could be stationed in South Carolina instead.

"If we brought troops home, we might have them stationed in South Carolina and have another base and have them spend the night here instead of in Korea," he said.

Sarah B. Boxer contributed to this report.