The New York Daily News reports that Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, has introduced a resolution criticizing President Bush for purportedly raising doubts about his commitment to civil liberties and privacy interests.

This is the latest round of histrionics stemming from the president’s issuance of a signing statement, in enacting a postal reform bill, which asserted the unremarkable fact that presidents have power to open mail without a judicial search warrant in exigent circumstances (such as a ticking-bomb threat to public safety when taking the time to find a judge and make an application might blow the opportunity to prevent a mass-murder).

You know, I’ve checked, but I can’t find any old news stories of brave Republicans blasting President Clinton back in 1994 when Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick testified that the president maintained the power to order warrantless searches to protect national security even though Congress was then passing a law requiring a warrant. Imagine that.

No word yet on whether Senator Collins will be aiming any resolutions against those well-known devotees of the Imperial Presidency down at the Supreme Court for — forty years ago (Warden v. Hayden (1967)) – endorsing warrantless searches in exigent circumstances when taking the time to seek a warrant might endanger lives.

It’s not easy living in a police state.