Boy, did we dodge a bullet in 2000.
One more time: We don’t know the technical details of the NSA program, and for good reason. Those technical details may, and probably do, make FISA inapplicable. James Risen’s sources leaked information not because they were concerned about FISA, but because they thought the program was questionable under the Fourth Amendment. The caselaw isn’t with them on this: A national security-related “border search” simply isn’t an unreasonable search. If FISA is inapplicable, Article II warmaking powers, which certainly include spying on the enemy, are applicable.
All of Gore’s screaming about “disrespect for the law” is entirely off point.
