[AFPhys]

"... authority at midnight to collect Americans' phone records in bulk, after GOP Sen. Rand Paul stood in the way of extending the fiercely contested program in an extraordinary Sunday Senate session. But that program and several other post-Sept. 11 counter-terror measures look likely to be revived in a matter of days ..."

It seems there may be a slight error in this article. I am seeing elsewhere that the bulk collection authorization is ended by the House bill. It may be the only real change that results, but that would be significant to me, and a real victory for Rand Paul and those of us who support him.

I sure hope that occurs.

[Cboldt]

-- I am seeing elsewhere that the bulk collection authorization is ended by the House bill. --

The government doesn't need congressional authorization to bulk collect data. Whether or not the collection is constitutional is a judicial decision, not a legislative one. The function of the statute is to give an illusion of government transparency.