"I agree with you. If we are intercepting calls from AQ and any of the calls go to the US, we should listen in on that call AND then start listening in on the phone of the American that they called. All I am saying is get a warrant."
Why get a warrant? It's not required by the Constitution when dealing with the enemy in a time of war. Even FISA, which is irrelevant in these cases as it is superceded by the Constitution, allows it with a statutory exception. We have such a statutory exception from Congress passed shortly after 9/11 so everything's hunky dory. So why would a warrant be necessary then? Especially if all it would accomplish would be to ensure that delays are encountered and that the NSA will be unable to listen to certain conversations due to time constraints?
I agree. What if it turns out that they intercepted communication of Americans who weren't involved with any enemy activity, and did so without a warrant? Can they blanketly monitor everyone without warrants and then decide who to continue surveillance on?
I assume they are doing that or something similar right now.