Ahem!
The #1 priority of the Prez is national security. The Founding Fathers contemplated that & allowed wide latitude to the President to accomplish that goal. The Prez has the power to engage in warrantless searches when it is a national security matter.
Every time it has gone before the courts, they have ruled in favor of the Prez - including warrantless searches while we were not at war. And recently, former FISA judges, whom the NSA goes to to get warrants when necessary, also publicly stated that the NSA intercepts were within the inherent powers of the Prez.
"(A)ll the other courts to have decided the issue held
that the President did have inherent authority to conduct
warrantless searches to obtain foreign intelligence
information . . . . We take for granted that the
President does have that authority and, assuming that is
so, FISA could not encroach on the President's
constitutional power."
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=22139776
"If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing Congress?"
President Bush today speaking about the warrantless wiretaps.
It's Legal
John Schmidt, associate attorney general of the United
States in the Clinton administration, superbly explains
why the NSA intercept program is legal under all
authorities and precedents:
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=21995718
FISA judges say Bush within law
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=22306779
The DoJ Defends The Administration On Intercepts
Message 22083051
"SHARING TITLE III ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE MATERIAL WITH THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY."
Message 22134049
On the Legality of the NSA Electronic Intercept Program
Message 21999532
More on the legality of the NSA program
Message 22001814
Gonzales Crushes Arguments Against NSA's International Surveillance
Message 22096108
Bush Defends NSA Program
Message 22023660
FISA vs. the Constitution
Congress can't usurp the president's power to spy on America's enemies.
Message 22009244
FISA Fallacies
Bush’s unconstitutional critics.
Message 22024263
THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, THE FISA COURT, AND NSA SURVEILLANCE
Message 22306470
FDR's domestic surveillance
Message 22432425
Spies and Lying Editorialists
Message 22119122
All the news that's fit to ignore
Message 22004639
IS THE PRESIDENT “ABOVE THE LAW”? I GUESS IT DEPENDS ON WHO THE PRESIDENT IS
Message 22134031
Congress Told Of Expanded NSA Efforts In 2001
Message 22026249
Disorder in the Court
Message 22017350
Ben Franklin understood the need for secrecy in matters of national security.
Message 22070284
Hayden Delivers Impassioned Defense of NSA
Message 22092568
General Hayden’s reading of the Fourth Amendment is correct, and his critics are mistaken.
Message 22437229
The Wisdom in Wiretaps
Bush critics seek war-powers loopholes to benefit terrorists.
Message 22043521
The Terrorist Surveillance Program, Explained
Message 22294367
A Colloquy With the Times
Message 21995726
Let's Send These Guys to Jail
Message 22001800
The Soviets Had the KGB -- Al Qaeda Has the NYT
Message 22023048
Timesspeak: Specialists at work
Now why would [the New York Times] overlook such a
critical piece of information even when reporting on the
opening of a criminal investigation of the leaks?
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=22024019
Did the New York Times break the law with its wire-tapping story?
Message 22094637
The Times and the law
Since the New York Times published the Risen/Lichtblau
NSA story on December 16, we have cited the federal law
that makes the disclosures on which the story is based a
crime. The federal law is 18 U.S.C. § 798, a law that
precisely prohibits leaks of the type of classified
information disclosed in the story.
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=22034887
Hype Over Old News
Tim Graham
The Corner
The networks cranked up the hype machine this morning. ABC began: “NSA bombshell!” NBC found a “shocking new report!” CBS called it a “stunning report.” All three were responding to the new USA Today story that the government has collected a database of the nation’s phone records since 9/11.
One problem: the New York Times reported this last Christmas eve. Clearly to the three DNC-TV networks, newness is overrated, but “shocking” new details of Bush supposedly violating your civil liberties just never lose their appeal.
MRC’s Rich Noyes wondered:
“Given that another government agency — the IRS — maintains
information on American citizens’ employment, banking,
investments, mortgages, charitable contributions and even
any declared medical expenses, this hardly seems like a
major assault on personal liberty.”
Ooh! Shocking new report! The IRS has a database with your personal information in it! That story is just waiting to be discovered.
corner.nationalreview.com
newsbusters.org
