The President Said Congress Told Him to Spy on Americans

CNN.com - White House steps up defense of domestic eavesdropping - Jan 23, 2006: "If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing Congress?'"

Critics have questioned that legal rationale, pointing to a law passed by Congress in the 1970s requiring executive branch agencies to get approval for domestic surveillance requests from a special court, whose proceedings are secret to protect national security.

They point out the administration could accomplish the same goals legally by taking requests for warrants before the court under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- and doing so as long as 72 hours after the wiretaps were begun in cases where time is of the essence.

President Bush could have gone to the FISA court to get surveillance warrants, even after the fact, yet he didn't. Why isn't this question being asked?

And how is going after our Google records protecting us from the evildoers?