The "war" is lost. Illegal immigration goes unchecked. Porous borders are a huge concern. What "budget"? What about illegal wiretapping: The Constitution clearly does not give the president unlimited powers. There’s also no way, even in Bush-speak, that a resolution authorizing war against foreign enemies can be interpreted as authorizing war against citizens of the United States. And while there are provisions in FISA that allow instant wiretapping to protect the nation, the Bush administration did not follow them.
Under the FISA law, enacted by Congress in 1978 to protect Americans from another Richard Nixon, it’s a federal crime to monitor phone calls made by any American without approval of a special, secret court in the Justice Department. In times of national emergency, however, the president may order immediate wiretaps — as long as he seeks court approval within 72 hours. President Bush knew what the law required. In a speech on April 20, 2004, he said: “Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires — a wiretap requires a court order.” In that speech, he was talking about the Patriot Act. But one day earlier, he made the same point about court orders required by “the FISA act.” |
