Representatives call NSA surveillance an illegal treat to civil liberties.

WASHINGTON - House Democrats and a panel of legal experts assailed the Bush administration’s secret domestic surveillance program Friday, calling it an illegal and dangerous threat to civil liberties and a presidential power grab that has thrown the country into a constitutional crisis.

"The president of the United States is violating our nation’s laws by authorizing the National Security Agency to engage in warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens," said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. "If we let domestic spying programs continue, if we let our president convince us that we are at war, so that he can do what he wants, we will allow to stand the principle that the president alone can decide what laws apply to him."

Conyers made the comments during an unofficial hearing on the issue convened by Conyers and six other Democrats. Some of the lawmakers said they were frustrated in their efforts to persuade Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., to schedule a formal inquiry on the domestic eavesdropping program.

"We’re looking into the issue," committee spokesman Jeff Lungren said. "No final decision has been made on whether having hearings is an appropriate action."

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Feb. 6. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is expected to testify on behalf of the administration.

At the Democrats’ House hearing, the lawmakers accused President Bush of exceeding his authority when, shortly after the Sept., 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he authorized the NSA to monitor, without a court warrant, phone calls and e-mails between U.S. residents and suspected terrorism contacts overseas.

"He is claiming absolute power that no one in American history has ever claimed. This cannot stand," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who said Bush is acting like a "monarch" and called for a special prosecutor to investigate whether Bush has broken the law.

The secret NSA program was disclosed last month by The New York Times. Bush said he had authorized the wiretaps without judicial oversight in order to to keep up with technologically sophisticated terrorist groups.

Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials have said the practice helped thwart terrorist plots.

At issue, though, is whether Bush exceeded his authority because domestic wiretaps without a warrant are illegal, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 created a court to issue such warrants. The FISA warrants also can be obtained up to 72 hours after the eavesdropping takes place.

Critics at the Democrats’ hearing said Bush had no right to order the NSA to ignore federal law requiring warrants.

"What the president ordered in this case was a crime," said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who added that the actions justify impeachment proceedings.

– http://www.statesman.com/news/conte...