[ndt]

"Who? I want names."

So as long as a government spys on it's citizens in secret there is no violation? Did you ever work for the KGB?

"The Judiciary has never had oversight on the execution of a war and if the Congress wants them to then they have the authority to make that law and pass the buck if they want to."

The Congress is the only branch that can declare war and they have not. If you have a link to a congressional declaration of war, please do post it.

"Don't give the President a blank check if you don't want him to use it."

The Congress can not give the president the power to violate law. They can change law to give him powers he might not otherwise have, but they can not give a "blank check" to bypass constitutional limits.

[Wasanother]

Is that the newest slogan? "It must be happening because we can't see, welcome to America the new KGB". Give me a freakin break!

Read the Congressional Authorization. It gave the President all the authority he needed to protect America from any further attacks and then the Constitution gives him the obligation to protect America from enemies foreign and domestic. Neither one excludes spying on anyone that has their phone numbers in an Al-Qaeda communication device because if it did then put your head between your legs and kiss your a*s good-bye.

Most legal opinions support the President so it's not against the law, as you state, and if congress wanted to make it illegal to wire-tap people no matter what the circumstances then they can certainly pass a law.

[Pragmatic_View]

"they can not give a "blank check" to bypass constitutional limits."

===

Are you saying that the US Constitution has been ignored for the first 200 years, all the way up to the 1970-s? This whole FISA court stuff was only created then, in response to the Nixon scandal.

[Wasanother]

BTW, I didn't ask for your opinionated historical overview of similarities between the KGB and America. All I asked was, who's rights have been violated? Please substantiate with real evidence and not just "The President admitting to authorizing a program".

[NewLand]

The Congress is the only branch that can declare war and they have not. If you have a link to a congressional declaration of war, please do post it.

Here you go, big shot. How do you like your crow, well done?

Congress Passes Iraq Use of Force Resolution

Dateline: 10/11/02

The U.S. Congress yesterday passed a resolution authorizing President Bush to use the Armed Forces of the United States against Iraq.

The House of Representatives on Oct. 10 passed the resolution (H.J. Res. 114) by a vote of 296-133. Senate approval came in a late-night vote of 77-23.

Resolution Authorizes Use of Military Forces in Iraq Specifically, the resolution authorizes President Bush to:

use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to--
(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.

[garbanzo]

They can change law to give him powers he might not otherwise have, but they can not give a "blank check" to bypass constitutional limits.

Do people here really understand what happened to the Weimar Republic? That even in emergency situations you can't give unlimited power to the executive for indefinite period of time? I guess I understand the power of fear in shaping emotions, but people really should look at history, especially the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Weimar Republic.