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Furthermore, the FISA court has approved over 99% of the warrants brought to it.

Except that it has turned down a disproportionate number of those referred to it by the Bush administration.

The administration has had years and years to go to congress and get the law changed. Any wiretapping done outside the framework of FISA is de facto extralegal.

That is not true, and there is a plethora of legal opinion stating such. There are even official judicial opinions stating such.

Where FISA can be used, it should be. In no case should a FISA refusal or lack of one be an excuse for ignoring possible terrorist chatter. We simply cannot afford it.

Ann Beeson, the American Civil Liberties Union's associate legal director and the lead attorney for the plaintiffs challenging the government's wiretapping policy, addresses the media in Detroit, in this June 12, 2006, file photo. A federal judge ruled Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006 that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it. U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Except that it has turned down a disproportionate number of those referred to it by the Bush administration.

Please offer a citation for a claim like this.

That is not true, and there is a plethora of legal opinion stating such. There are even official judicial opinions stating such.

John Yoo or Alberto Gonzalez' opinion, as that of officers of the executive branch, are not binding or precedent setting. Really, all the judicial opinions to this point are pretty much immaterial until it goes to the SCotUS.

Where FISA can be used, it should be.

Agreed.

In no case should a FISA refusal or lack of one be an excuse for ignoring possible terrorist chatter. We simply cannot afford it.

Again, this applies only to purely domestic communications. Justify it to me....Why on earth should the executive not have to comply with the law? The libertarian in me cringes even to think of it.

Allow me to finish with a quote: Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
-Ben Franklin