Republican senator Rand Paul says he was stopped briefly by security at Nashville airport when a scanner found an “anomaly” on his knee.

Paul, who frequently uses the airport about an hour from his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview that he asked for another scan but refused a patdown by airport security. He said he was “detained” at a small cubicle and couldn’t make his flight to Washington for a Senate session.

Paul, the son of Republican presidential candidate Ron, said the situation reflects his long-standing concern that the TSA shouldn’t be “spending so much time with people who wouldn’t attack us.”

TSA officials didn’t immediately respond to AP’s request for more information.

Rand Paul missed his connecting flight to Washington for a Senate session after being detained in a small cubicle. Photograph: Mark Lyons/EPA

Republican senator Rand Paul says he was stopped briefly by security at Nashville airport when a scanner found an “anomaly” on his knee.

Paul, who frequently uses the airport about an hour from his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview that he asked for another scan but refused a patdown by airport security. He said he was “detained” at a small cubicle and couldn’t make his flight to Washington for a Senate session.

Paul, the son of Republican presidential candidate Ron, said the situation reflects his long-standing concern that the TSA shouldn’t be “spending so much time with people who wouldn’t attack us.”

TSA officials didn’t immediately respond to AP’s request for more information.