CRS — Legality of Presidential Spy Order in Doubt

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The Congressional Research Service has issued a 44-page report that questions whether President Bush legally authorize the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless electronic domestic surveillance. The CRS report says that legal justification presented Dec. 22 for the authorization “does not seem to be as well-grounded as the tenor of that letter suggests.” It goes on to say Congress has the power to regulate domestic surveillance and that it’s unlikely that any court would conclude Congress had authorized the spying. (1/06/06)