Well no kidding? The point was to wiretap SUSPECTED terrorists just liked we had always tapped SUSPECTED drug king pins. If you have proof, it's not a suspect. Things are not as simple as you seem to think.
Here is a quote:
"To extend the same power police now have against organized crime to save lives by tapping all the phones that terrorists use. Terrorists are as big a threat to our future, perhaps bigger, than organized crime. Why should we have two different standards for a common threat to the safety of America and our children?
We need, in short, the laws that Congress refused to pass. And I ask them again -- please, as an American, not a partisan, matter, pass these laws now. "
Full text of 1996 speech:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/conventi...nton_8-29.html
If you want to tell someone to get a judge to give you a court order, tell the last administration. No wonder they wouldnt send Clinton a new wiretap bill, they didnt give a shit anyway when they got power. This is a powerful predictor of current and future behavior IMHO.