[sinkspur]

So it's perfectly constitutional for the government to arbitrarily tap anybody's phone it wants to, like was done in the Soviet Union and under Saddam Hussein's regime?

Of course not. That's a strawman.

[inquest]

That's a strawman.

It follows directly from your attempt to remove surveillance from the requirements that apply to searches and seizures under the 4th amendment.

Is surveillance not a type of search? If it is, then the same paperwork requirements apply to them as apply to arrests, since the 4th amendment covers searches and seizures equally.