Senators Call NSA Snooping Unnecessary to Security

Three senators have said what pretty much everyone in the world is thinking – that the NSA's methods of data collection were huge intrusions and completely unnecessary for the security of the United States. Mark Udall (D-Colorado), Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) collectively filed an amicus curae brief for a lawsuit filed against the NSA, claiming that its record collection violated the Fourth Amendment.

The amendment guarantees protection against unreasonable search and seizure of property, which historically has been used to ensure a "right to privacy." The brief also warns against broad interpretations of FISA, which in theory, could be used to collect financial and medical records from U.S. citizens – a process that is supposed to be very illegal unless the authorities have prior approval and probable cause.

From the brief, "Because the government's call-records program needlessly intrudes upon the privacy rights of hundreds of millions of Americans, [we] believe the bulk collection of these phone records should be ended."

The NSA has countered this claim that their efforts are reasonable and justified to protect Americans from terrorists.