The Constitutionality of the NSA

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The constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s methods in surveilling American citizens has been called into question. This agency operates partially in secret making it difficult to question some of its methods. However, some methods have been revealed to the American public. Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA has ordered Verizon and other companies as well, to relinquish the metadata the company has on its customers. This metadata contained documented files on “phone numbers, duration of calls, routing information and sometimes the location of the callers” (Schell 2013). Other information regarding the NSA’s methods include its operation under the Bush Administration in which the Terrorist Surveillance Program took into effect. Under the Terrorist Surveillance Program, if two certain conditions were met, the NSA had the authority to commit warrantless domestic eavesdropping (ACLU v. NSA). However invasive these methods may seem, the techniques utilized of the NSA can still be deemed constitutional. The NSA has the constitutionality to implement these methods through: the implied powers set forth by the authority of the President, the agency’s inherent secretive nature, and the vulnerability set by the advancement of technology. Under the NSA’s implied powers to protect the security of American citizens, this agency has the right to domestically surveil as long as it attempts to protect the citizens of the country. Under the Bush Administration’s Terrorist Surveillance Program, the NSA could only perform warrantless wiretaps if a party satisfied two conditions: one of the suspected parties in the communication had to be located overseas and the NSA must “have a ‘reasonable basis’ to believe one of the parties has an af... ... middle of paper ... ...8. "THE SURPRISINGLY STRONGER CASE FOR THE LEGALITY OF THE NSA SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM: THE FDR PRECEDENT." Stanford Law Review 60, no. 4: 1023-1077. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 19, 2014). Lemos, Robert. 2013. "NSA Chief Says Data Collection Targeted, Obeys Constitutional Limits." Eweek 7. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 19, 2014). "Resolved: The Benefits of Domestic Surveillance by the NSA Outweigh the Harms." Debate Central. National Center for Policy Analysis, 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. Schell, Jonathan. 2013. "The Surveillance Net." Nation 297, no. 1/2: 3-6. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 19, 2014).2008. 2013. "New rules for NSA spying: Protect the presumption of innocence." Christian Science Monitor, December 19. N.PAG. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 19, 2014).

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