NSA Collected US Email Records In Bulk For More Than Two Years Under Obama (w/Documents) - Guardian

[Maedhros]

43. Where is the scandal?

The fact that the secret FISC, with no oversight or accountability, routinely and continually authorized all data collection requested by the NSA every 90 days, is scandalous.

I know it's out of vogue, but here is the Fourth Amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The fact that the NSA is asking the FISC for a warrant makes the Fourth Amendment relevant.

Whether the NSA has probable cause to collect data on millions of anonymous citizens is very much an open question, and a comprehensive explanation by the Administration is long overdue regarding why they believe they have probable cause to do this. Repeatedly citing the classified nature of the program is not sufficient cause to avoid giving an explanation.

A valid warrant must "particularly describ[e] the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." A blanket warrant issued every 90 days for the huge volume of records seized cannot by any stretch of the imagination meet this requirement.

If the program is indeed Constitutional and does not present a threat to democracy, then there is no harm explaining in detail exactly how the program functions. According to the people that created it, our government derives its "just powers from the consent of the governed." We as citizens cannot consent to this program if we do not know how it works.