Inventing Abuse

AFTER USA Today reported that the National Security Agency had collaborated with three U.S. phone companies to construct a database of domestic phone records, critics fell all over one another denouncing the program. They called it, among other things, “a vast and unchecked intrusion on privacy” and “the Bush administration’s most egregious abuse of power to date.”

The criticisms stand on two basic principles. First, while programs to prevent terrorist attacks are desirable, the privacy of innocent Americans must be protected at all costs. And second, although the Constitution gives the president the duty to protect the country from foreign threats, any act of the legislature may circumscribe his constitutional authority to do so.

About the Author

Stephen Spruiell

Stephen Spruiell is a former staff reporter for National Review Online.

Featured Tags

AFTER USA Today reported that the National Security Agency had collaborated with three U.S. phone companies to construct a database of domestic phone records, critics fell all over one another denouncing the program. They called it, among other things, “a vast and unchecked intrusion on privacy” and “the Bush administration’s most egregious abuse of power to date.”

The criticisms stand on two basic principles. First, while programs to prevent terrorist attacks are desirable, the privacy of innocent Americans must be protected at all costs. And second, although the Constitution gives the president the duty to protect the country from foreign threats, any act of the legislature may circumscribe his constitutional authority to do so.