Ron Paul says U.S. ‘slipping into fascist system'

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says the U.S. is "slipping into a fascist system" dominated by big government and big businesses.

The Texas congressman held a rally Saturday night across the street from a World War I Memorial, upstaging simultaneous Republican Party banquets being held on both sides of the nearby Missouri and Kansas line.

Paul said the U.S. got off track during the era of President Woodrow Wilson, who led the nation through World War I and unsuccessfully advocated for the nation's involvement in a forerunner of the United Nations.

Although campaign aides were aware, Paul told reporters after his speech that he did not know his rally was coinciding with long-established Republican Party events.