MOSCOW - Ron Paul's message is freedom, and more freedom.

"If I could have my freedom, but less prosperity, I'd have my freedom," he said Friday.

The Republican presidential candidate appeared before a jam-packed auditorium on the University of Idaho campus, getting an enthusiastic welcome for his vision of small government, economic freedoms for all, and a military that's far less likely to end up spending the country into massive debt on overseas conflicts.

He told the audience to get inspired and be heard, referring to "brushfires" of the mind.

"There is nothing unpatriotic about challenging your government when your government is wrong," he said.

He's not afraid.

"It's time to challenge the status quo," Paul said.

He accused the other presidential candidates of being unwilling to make the more significant changes necessary to improve the county. He said they would just "tinker around" at the very edges of problems, and not take the bold steps he feels are needed.

He said the country is spending and printing too much money. If it continues that pattern, he said, "We'll have runaway inflation."

Many in the packed student union building were students. But they weren't the only ones there to hear the Texas doctor and U.S. congressional representative prescribe an antidote for an economy he said could and should be more robust. He didn't discuss the state of Idaho, which holds caucuses on March 6.

Paul supporter Randy Howard, a Hayden resident who drove down for the event with his wife, Nancy, said he likes Paul's business background, among his other qualifications, which includes a stint in the Air Force.

"He's willing to try something different," Howard said. "If you keep going with the same tactics, you're going to get the same results."

Paul spent a significant portion of his speech criticizing the attack-then-rebuild strategy that the U.S. has maintained in the Middle East during the past two administrations.

"The government now can't wait to get involved in Syria and Iran," he warned.

He said the U.S.'s nation-building efforts have weakened the country here at home. And the endless wars must stop, he said.

"Nation building isn't to our benefit," he said. He said it bankrupts the country and undermines the country's national security efforts.

If elected, he promised to never go to war without authorization from Congress, and to bring the troops home that are already fighting overseas.

How quick? "As quickly as I could get the ships over to where they are and bring them home," he pledged.

Cutting back on defense would not make the country more vulnerable, he said.

"They are not going to attack us and invade this country," he said.

He promised that as president he would never take any action that's not explicitly granted by the U.S. Constitution.

He said the president and federal government have weakened individual civil liberties by doing just that.

"The Founders would be embarrassed if they knew what we were putting up with," he said.

He would reverse those trends, if elected, he said.

"Our lives and our liberties come from our creator, not our government," he said.

He said voters need to send more people to Washington, D.C., who have "at least read the Constitution." Free copies of the Constitution were available at tables at the back of the auditorium.

There were so many people who showed up that many had to stand outside the event and try and listen in as Paul spoke. At least two members of the audience inside fainted, and ended up lying on the floor in back. One woman was taken away on a stretcher by paramedics, apparently from heat exhaustion, though she appeared to be alert and recovering as she left.

Amanda and Romel Rodriguez, of Athol, made the drive down to watch Paul, bringing sons Anthony and Jade along.

"It was definitely worth the trip," Amanda Rodriguez said. "He's the only consistent man out there."

Paul has their backing next month.

The country needs "drastic change," Romel Rodriguez said. There's not enough difference promised by the other candidates, he said.

"I love his message, his influence on the young, his common sense," said Amanda Rodriguez.

They're most concerned with the country's debt, and what that will do to their kids' generation, and the country's spending spree fighting overseas. They want the troops home - now, she said.

"He'll talk about things that most candidates aren't willing to talk about," she said.

She said she's working on her friends and family to convince them Paul's electable, and to give him their support in the caucuses. She said while Paul hasn't won any state contests, he has picked up a respectable number of delegates, a fact the media has hidden from the public.

"I think things are going to get worse for the country," she said. When they do, people will realize Paul has been offering the tough, but necessary medicine all along.