[Boot Hill]

Bubbatuck:   "Case law doesn't matter in this case: the president does not get to decide the constitutionality of laws."

LOL, if "case law doesn't matter", and "the president does not get to decide the constitutionality of laws", then when case law is made that decides the constitutionality of the law, then according to you, the President wouldn't be obligated to follow that case law, because as you said, "case law doesn't matter"!!!

In any event, it is an inescapable fact, that the courts have already spoken and established the fact that the President's actions are in deed 100% constitutional. He needs no more authority than that for these intercepts, and has no need or obligation to get a determination as to the constitutionality of FISA. FISA is Congresses problem.

"We should not require the warrant procedure and the magistrate's judgment if the President of the United States or his chief legal officer, the Attorney General, has considered the requirements of [foreign threats to] national security and authorized electronic surveillance as reasonable."

--Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 364 (1967), J. White concurring

"However, because of the President's constitutional duty to act for the United States in the field of foreign relations, and his inherent power to protect national security in the context of foreign affairs, we reaffirm what we held in United States v. Clay, supra, that the President may constitutionally authorize warrantless wiretaps for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence."

--United States v. Brown, 484 F.2d 418, 426 (1973)

"We agree with the district court that the Executive Branch need not always obtain a warrant for foreign intelligence surveillance."

--U.S. v. Truong Dinh Hung, 629 F.2d 908, 913 (1980)

"Prior to the enactment of FISA, virtually every court that had addressed the issue had concluded that the President had the inherent power to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance to collect foreign intelligence information, and that such surveillances constituted an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment."

--United States v. Duggan, 743 F.2d 59 (1984)

"The Truong court, as did all the other courts to have decided the issue, held that the President did have inherent [constitutional] authority to conduct warrantless searches to obtain foreign intelligence information."

--In re Sealed Case, 310, F3d. 717, 742 (2002)

[Doe Eyes]

You do realize these same courts have ruled the Constitution guarantees a woman's right to an abortion.

[Bubbatuck]

Yup! Foreign intelligence, fine.

Wanna spy on Americans? Get a warrant first.