[dirtboy]

. In its opinion, the court said the executive branch has the "inherent authority" to wiretap enemies such as terror plotters and is excused from obtaining warrants when surveillance is "conducted 'primarily' for foreign intelligence reasons." That description, some Republicans say, perfectly fits the Bush administration's program to monitor calls from terror-linked people to the U.S. The Truong case, however, involved surveillance that began in 1977, before the enactment of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which established a secret court for granting foreign intelligence warrants.

Carter signed FISA - however, the "inherent authority" was not his to give away, since it is a constitutional power of the executive - just as SCOTUS did not allow Congress to give the President a line-item veto without amending the Constitution.

In a way, this is a good debate - it is educating people about the nature of the relationship of powers between the various branches of government. And it is showing how the Dems politicize everything.

HOWEVER, the middle of wartime is NOT the time to be having such a debate!!!!

[inquest]

HOWEVER, the middle of wartime is NOT the time to be having such a debate!!!!

Well, given that this is a "war" with no end in sight except when the administration says it's over, this debate isn't going to be put off forever, so we might as well get it out of the way now.