Sen. Mitch McConnell writes:

[O]n Feb. 16, the nation’s terrorist surveillance law expired. At that moment, intelligence officials who spend their days listening in on phone calls between terrorists overseas were legally barred from following new leads without first following outdated and cumbersome warrant procedures — even if neither caller is calling from within the U.S.
The consequences of inaction are real. Today, if someone in a previously unknown terror cell calls an eager new recruit in London, our agents will have to hang up the phone, apply for a warrant and hope for the best.
If a Marine in Iraq captures a terrorist from a previously unidentified terror group, our agents will not be free to call the phone numbers in his laptop right away.
If calls placed to these numbers are routed through U.S. phone lines, our agents will have to apply for a warrant, even though the people on the other end are overseas and the terrorist with the laptop is not an American.

Me: Most Democrats know this is wrong and would cast their votes correctly. The problem is Nancy Pelosi and, one presumes, other House Democratic leaders. Democrats need to put pressure on them – rather than attacking those who are calling attention to this problem.

McConnell’s piece is here.

Also read this piece by Senator Bond and Representatives Hoekstra and Smith.