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RAND PAUL BEGINS MAKING HIS CASE FOR 2016: Recent news that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney are mulling presidential bids are welcome news for at least one potential 2016 contender: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. The reason is simple: The more contenders there are angling for support among the evangelical and establishment wings of the party, the easier it will be for Mr. Paul to cast himself as a unique figure as he courts a mix of tea-party activists, young voters and other Republicans with his distinct brand of conservative libertarianism.

Mr. Paul visited the early-voting state of New Hampshire yesterday, at a time when much of the focus in GOP politics has centered on what a third White House bid for Mr. Romney would mean for Mr. Bush and others vying for the same centrist, business-friendly donors. The Kentucky senator found a receptive audience in the state, where his libertarian-leaning father came in second with 23% of the vote in the states 2012 GOP presidential primary. As one New Hampshire state senator put it: He is solely the candidate who benefits from the crowded field. Janet Hook and Patrick OConnor report.

Compiled by Rebecca Ballhaus

PATRICK OCONNORS EARLY HIT: AMERICANS WANT CONGRESS TO FOCUS ON THE BASICS Republicans and Democrats alike want Congress to pass an annual budget, drive down college costs and preserve Medicare for future generations, according to a recent nationwide poll commissioned by Crossroads GPS and the American Action Network, two groups that back congressional Republicans. Splits emerge over more divisive issues like approving the Keystone XL pipeline and changing the Affordable Care Act. The poll results suggest Americans would rather see Congress do its basic duties: make government more efficient and tackle kitchen-table topics, not rehash partisan feuds. Read Patrick OConnors full post in Washington Wire.

STORIES YOU SHOULDNT MISS EPA SET TO REGULATE OIL AND GAS METHANE EMISSIONS:The Obama administration unveiled plans to regulate methane emissions from the nations oil and natural-gas industry for the first time, a move aimed at meeting climate-change goals while not hampering the nations energy boom. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to propose federal regulations to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40% to 45% over the next decade from 2012 levels. The rules, scheduled to be proposed this summer and completed by 2016, would apply only to new or modified sites. Amy Harder reports. Plus: Five things to know about methane.

MONTHS OF AIRSTRIKES FAIL TO SLOW ISIS: More than three months of U.S. airstrikes in Syria have failed to prevent Islamic State militants from expanding their control in that country, raising new concerns about President Barack Obamas military strategy in the Middle East. While U.S. bombing runs and missile strikes have put Islamic State forces on the defensive in Iraq, they havent had the same kind of impact in Syria, where jihadist fighters have enlarged their hold since the U.S. started hitting the groups strongholds there in September. The militant groups progress in Syria is partly the result of the U.S. decision to focus its military efforts on Iraq, and the Obama administration is now considering whether the U.S. should focus more aggressively on Syria. Dion Nissenbaum reports.

Related: The White House wants to win bipartisan support for an updated congressional resolution authorizing the U.S. to use military force against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria An Ohio man was arrested yesterday as he neared what authorities say were the final stages of a terror plot to attack the U.S. Capitol with guns and pipe bombs in support of Islamic State Four years after the Arab Spring began, the new Middle East looks more and more like the old onebut worse.

HOUSE VOTES TO BLOCK OBAMA ON IMMIGRATION: The House passed legislation to nullify President Obamas immigration policies, tying the contentious issue to a bill funding homeland security and setting up a clash with Democrats who are expected to block the measure in the Senate. The vote was 236-191 for the funding bill after the House easily approved amendments to undo a string of Mr. Obamas executive actions. The move gave conservatives the votes they had been demanding, but prompted backlash from some centrist Republicans who said it goes too far. Laura Meckler and Kristina Peterson report.

More on Congress: The House also passed a bill to ease nearly a dozen Wall Street regulations, the latest legislative effort to roll back provisions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law.

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Capital Journal Daybreak: Airstrikes Fail to Slow Islamic State in Syria | Rand Paul Begins Making His Case for 2016 ...