Senators To Obama: Hey You Can End Bulk Phone Data Collection Today; Obama: Ha, Ha, Ha, Nope!

[msanthrope]

108. And there's the point of contention...is he required, under the duty to faithfully

execute, to maintain the bulk collection because the bulk collection fulfills the clear intent of section 215? There's really not an "alternate" to the bulk collection itself, although the access to it can and has been modified.

What President Obama is asking Congress to do is to clarify that point. Can Section 215 be discharged in another manner?

Wyden and Udall have noted that the President can stop the bulk collection through dereliction, but they also noted that the House's latest bill does not stop the collection....merely modifies the access. So he would be going against the express will of Congress...and that's always dicey.

And note....Wyden and Udall cannot point to anything within the Patriot Act that gives the President discretion on this point.

So I think the President is frustratingly, technically correct on this point. We are at an impasse with a Congress that wants to deal with this in 2015, and pursue the Benghazi impeachment of BHO and HRC.