Amidst reports that he secretly authorised a spy agency to eavesdrop on Americans and foreign citizens inside the US, President George W Bush has insisted that anything he does to protect the people against terrorism is within the law.
President Bush, according to The New York Times, had signed a secret Presidential Order after the 9/11 attacks, authorising the National Security Agency to track international phone calls and e-mails of hundreds of people.
Normally a court authorisation is required for domestic spying.
Bush and other senior officials of his administration would not officially address the issue citing one or more reasons, notably that anything pertaining to intelligence cannot be discussed.
"We do not discuss ongoing intelligence operations to protect the country, and the reason why is that there's an enemy that lurks, that would like to know exactly what we're trying to do to stop them," Bush said.
"I will make this point. That whatever I do to protect the American people, and I have an obligation to do so, that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties of the American people," he said.
The argument has been made that the Presidential Directive of 2002 to the NSA was not only a major shift in policy pertaining to domestic spying but in violation of the constitutional limits on legal searches.
The NSA, which is based in Fort Meade in Maryland is authorised to keep a tab on communications in foreign lands. The agency declined to comment on the report.
One of the indirect fallouts of the media attention was the Senate filibuster on the USA Patriot Act. A group of lawmakers have called for increased protection of civil rights and liberties.
American people have been quite wary of the goings-on during the heydays of the Vietnam War; and Congress took strict steps to write into law what is and what is not permitted in the realm of spying as it pertains to within the United States. The idea that Bush issued a directive to the NSA to snoop on Americans and others here has caught the attention of senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
"We need to look into that," remarked Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, who said he had heard only media reports about the NSA programme.
"We should be informed as to exactly what's going on, and then find out whether an investigation is called for. All we have is initial reports," he said.
