Secondly, the terrorist surveillance program had absolutely nothing to do with, "this administration has shown contempt for the very concept of accountability". In fact, there is overwhelming evidence to show it was not only Constitutional, it was a necessary aspect of the #1 priority of the President; to protect our national security:
Every administration, liberal or conservative, has claimed this warrantless surveillance power, and no court has ever denied it. The FISA court of review explained, citing the 14th Circuit's 1980 decision in a case involving the surveillance of a Vietnamese spy named David Truong,
"The Truong court, as did all 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." The court
added, "We take it for granted that the President does
have that authority."
The court in the Truong case noted that the executive
"not only has superior expertise in the area of foreign
intelligence, it is also constitutionally designated as
the pre-eminent authority in foreign affairs."
And the Constitution's framers knew what they were about, according to the Truong court:
"Attempts to counter foreign threats to the national
security require the utmost stealth, speed and secrecy. A
warrant requirement would add a procedural hurdle that
would reduce the flexibility of executive foreign-
intelligence initiatives."
That argument rings all the truer in the Age of al Qaeda, when a fast-moving, amorphous enemy operates both outside and within U.S. borders. Like it or not, the president has the constitutional authority to wage the war on terror. His detractors don't like it, so they pretend the authority doesn't exist, and trample on the Constitution in the process.
Message 22024263 |
