Domestic Spying: A Clear and Present Danger to Democracy
?The administration cannot unilaterally assume that they have the answers to get around or go over a law.... The balance must be preserved between the executive branch and the legislature.? - Sen. Chuck Hagel (R - NE)
?When I voted for [the authorization of the use of military force], I never envisioned that I was giving the president or any other president the ability to go around FISA carte blanche.? - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R - SC)
?We make the laws. If you believe you need new laws, then come and tell us.? - Sen. Patrick Leahy (D - VT)
These senators, and several others, were reacting this week to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales? defense of the president?s decision to authorize a secret domestic spying program by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Under the secret domestic spying program, the NSA has been monitoring, without court approval, thousands of e-mails and phone calls involving people in the U.S. for at least the past four years. This domestic surveillance program is so secret that on Monday the attorney general refused even to provide the date when the president first authorized it. Most troubling though is the fact that the program clearly violates at least one federal law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Asked by senators why the administration did not seek congressional approval for this program, Gonzales responded, ?The short answer is that we didn?t think we needed to, quite frankly.? The administration argues that the congressional resolution authorizing the use of military force to chase down the perpetrators of the attacks of September 11, 2001 provides the legal basis for ignoring federal laws and authorizing the covert surveillance program.
The president also claims that his inherent authority as Commander-In-Chief to fight potential enemies of the U.S. as he sees fit provides another legal basis for his actions.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R - PA), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said simply that this argument ?is not sound.? Sen. Lindsey Graham agreed, ?In all honesty, Mr. Attorney General? the argument that you?re making is very dangerous.?
These senators were joined in their pointed questioning of the attorney general by Sen. Mike DeWine (R - OH), Sen. Sam Brownback (R - KS), and all Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. See a full list of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee here:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/directory/co...t?commid=sjudi. Because Republicans hold a majority in both chambers of Congress and thus on all congressional committees, these Republican senators will be critical to any effort to challenge the president?s failure to uphold the constitutional balance of powers and his refusal to consult Congress and the courts in devising and implementing this domestic surveillance program.
The president believes he is above the law. Members of Congress should be encouraged to challenge the legal basis for any domestic spying program and to defend the separation of powers that is an essential component of our democracy.
FCNL has collected a number of resources on the NSA program, the expansion of domestic surveillance programs since September 11, 2001, and the broader constitutional issues at the heart of this debate. Follow this link for further readings on the subject.
http://www.fcnl.org/civil_liberties/nsa_spying106.htm