[ez]

"There was no law against spying on people in the US until the law passed by Congress as a knee jerk reaction to the Nixon scandal." Incorrect, it is covered by the fourth amendment.

Sorry, but the Fourth is not a law against spying on Americans. Just read it. It's a law against "unreasonable" searches and seizures. Most would consider the monitoring of phone calls to and from suspected AlQueda operatives to be "reasonable."

[AmishDude]

Yep. The NSA monitored overseas communication of known alQ operatives and when US numbers showed up in alQ's phonebooks, or they called the US, the NSA just kept it up.

The cops don't need a warrant if they believe a crime is in progress. If they come to your door without a warrant and you answer with blood on your hands, they will come in and a judge will say it was OK.

Moreover, even if a judge says the search wasn't OK, it just means that the evidence (and its fruit) cannot be accepted in court.

[ndt]

"Sorry, but the Fourth is not a law against spying on Americans."

Take a look at Katz v. United States. They determined that it did.

"Most would consider the monitoring of phone calls to and from suspected AlQueda operatives to be "reasonable.""

As do I. The problem is that without oversight or reporting, we are taking their word for it.