Informed Speculation

The long-anticipated Republican attempt to put the NSA controversy down is now on the table:

The Bush administration could continue its policy of spying on targeted Americans without obtaining warrants, but only if it justifies the action to a small group of lawmakers, under legislation introduced yesterday by key Republican senators.

The four senators hope to settle the debate over National Security Agency eavesdropping on international communications involving Americans when one of the parties is suspected of terrorist ties. President Bush prompted a months-long uproar when he said that constitutional powers absolve him of the need to seek warrants in such cases, even though the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requires warrants for domestic wiretaps.

The program, begun in 2001, was first publicized late last year.

The bill would allow the NSA to eavesdrop, without a warrant, for up to 45 days per case, at which point the Justice Department would have three options. It could drop the surveillance, seek a warrant from FISA’s court, or convince a handful of House and Senate members that although there is insufficient evidence for a warrant, continued surveillance “is necessary to protect the United States,” according to a summary the four sponsors provided yesterday. They are Mike DeWine (Ohio), Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Olympia J. Snowe (Maine).

One would expect Glenn Greenwald to weigh in; however, he has been so bowled over by Senator Feingold’s windmill-tilting that he seems to have lost track of the ball. Arlen Specter has got his back, however:

It is far from clear whether the bill can win passage. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) — whose panel plays a major role in the surveillance matter — pointed his thumb down yesterday when asked about the measure. He said he particularly objects to letting the government “do whatever the hell it wants” for 45 days without seeking judicial or congressional approval.

To be continued, no doubt…

UPDATE 12:59 p.m.: Ah, now Glenn’s awake:

Michael DeWine yesterday introduced what he is calling The Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006 (.pdf), co-sponsored by those independent maverick Republicans Olympia Snowe, Chuck Hagel and Lindsay Graham. The purpose of the bill is to render legal the illegal warrantless eavesdropping program ordered by the President more than 4 years ago. This bill is based upon the Richard Nixon Theory of Executive Infallibility, famously expressed in Nixon’s 1977 interview with David Frost:

FROST: So what in a sense, you’re saying is that there are certain situations, and the Huston Plan or that part of it was one of them, where the president can decide that it’s in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal.

NIXON: Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal.

FROST: By definition.

NIXON: Exactly. Exactly. If the president, for example, approves something because of the national security, or in this case because of a threat to internal peace and order of significant magnitude, then the president’s decision in that instance is one that enables those who carry it out, to carry it out without violating a law. Otherwise they’re in an impossible position.

With that Presidential Infallibility premise firmly embraced by the independent Republican mavericks, we are presented with the Terrorist Surveillance Act.

Tom Maguire notes the poetic reaction of the Nutroots®…