"We had to burn The Constitution in order to save it!"

From Glenn Greenwald's blog:

On December 22, 2005, the Department of Justice issued a 5-page letter outlining its arguments as to why the President’s NSA warrantless eavesdropping program was legally justified. Those arguments have been thoroughly rebutted, including by the independent and nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (which I discussed briefly here) ; this letter from 14 law professors and former government lawyers; and this comprehensive compilation from The Left Coaster of all the arguments marshaled in the blogosphere against the DoJ’s legal position, including the numerous posts I have written on all of these legal issues.

In response to all of these arguments, the DoJ returned to the drawing board and yesterday released a 42-page single spaced letter (.pdf) elaborating on its original arguments, adding a few new ones, and advancing some positions which clarify both what this scandal is about and the unprecedented, truly limitless powers claimed by the Administration. The most notable new component of the DoJ’s position is its declaration that, if necessary, it will attack the constitutionality of FISA itself if it is found that FISA "impedes" the President’s power to eavesdrop on Americans as part of the fight against terrorism (Letter at pp. 3 & 35).

More here...