By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Senators raised doubts about the legal rationale for the Bush administration's eavesdropping program Monday, forcing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to provide a lengthy defense of the operations he called a vital "early warning system" for terrorists.
A handful of Republicans joined Democrats in raising questions about whether
President Bush went too far in ordering the National Security Agency's monitoring operations. The senators were particularly troubled by the administration's argument that a September 2001 congressional resolution approving use of military force covered the surveillance of some domestic communications.
"The president does not have a blank check,(emphasis mine)" said Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who wants the administration to ask the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review the program.
"You think you're right, but there are a lot of people who think you're wrong," Specter told Gonzales. "What do you have to lose if you're right?"
Well, Senator if you think the administrative branch of government might be abusing its powers, do something about it. For starters you can renig the "war time" like powers Congress illegally gave him in the first place.
I am calling upon Congress to stop playing around in committee and take back some of their Constitutional resposponsibility. However, this is an election year. No way, it happens.
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