Kakashi wrote:
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(1.B) there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party; and
Seems pretty clear to me. What about spies? ("agents of a foreign power")
Kakashi wrote:
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(4.B.b) Applications for a court order under this subchapter are authorized if the President has, by written authorization, empowered the Attorney General to approve applications to the court having jurisdiction under section 1803 of this title, and a judge to whom an application is made may, notwithstanding any other law, grant an order, in conformity with section 1805 of this title, approving electronic surveillance of a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power for the purpose of obtaining foreign intelligence information, except that the court shall not have jurisdiction to grant any order approving electronic surveillance directed solely as described in paragraph (1)(A) of subsection (a) of this section unless such surveillance may involve the acquisition of communications of any United States person.
Okay, so we need to go to a judge if we want to spy on a US citizen.
Now, the admistration's position is that the president's war powers extend to overriding this law. The war powers that congress authorized after September 11th were limited in scope to those specifically responsible for the attacks. But, if you read <a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/warpowers925.htm">Yoo's legal opinion</a> that most of this is based on, it basically states that the president has legal authority to deploy military force(s) against anyone suspected of being a terrorist.
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You have asked for our opinion as to the scope of the President's authority to take military action in response to the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. We conclude that the President has broad constitutional power to use military force. Congress has acknowledged this inherent executive power in both the War Powers Resolution, Pub. L. No. 93-148, 87 Stat. 555 (1973), codified at 50 U.S.C. §§ 1541-1548 (the "WPR"), and in the Joint Resolution passed by Congress on September 14, 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-40, 115 Stat. 224 (2001). Further, the President has the constitutional power not only to retaliate against any person, organization, or State suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks on the United States, but also against foreign States suspected of harboring or supporting such organizations. Finally, the President may deploy military force preemptively against terrorist organizations or the States that harbor or support them, whether or not they can be linked to the specific terrorist incidents of September 11.
This is scary stuff, because it places the US is in a perpetual state of war and allows the president to override any constitutional freedom he wants. But wait, what's this? FISA limits the president's war powers! (Gee Kakashi, you forgot this section ...)
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§ 1811. Authorization during time of war
Notwithstanding any other law, the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this subchapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for a period not to exceed fifteen calendar days following a declaration of war by the Congress.
Ooops. The president can only use war powers for warrentless spying during the first 15 days of the war.
Since I forgot to mention it last time, I highly doubt impeachment hearings will even be started, let alone the possiblity of a finding against Bush. However, it is pretty clear that the administration is on the wrong side of the law.
Clarity Edit:
Impeachment is unlikely because Bush followed channels, not just because the House and Senate are Republican-controlled. The administration asked for legal opinions before acting, and when they did start the warrentless wiretaps, they informed the heads of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
[Edited by ptlis 2006-02-02 - the code BB code completely fucksplodes the layout on some templates so I switched it to a quote BB code]