Gonzalez
Gonzales said Monday that a congressional act passed after September 11 not only authorized President Bush to use force in the war on terror, it gave the president the power to allow such wiretaps.
"There were many people, many lawyers within the administration who advised the president that he had an inherent authority as commander in chief under the Constitution to engage in these kind of signal intelligence of our enemy," he said.
"We also believe that the authorization to use force, which was passed by the Congress in the days following the attacks of September 11, constituted additional authorization for the president to engage in this kind of signal intelligence."
Signal intelligence refers to intercepted electronic communications, such as phone calls.
The measure meant the president doesn't need to get a court order to request such wiretaps, as called for in FISA, Gonzales said.
Here's what the authorization to use force said:
"The President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons."
Here's what the Constitution says about the president as commmander in chief:
"The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States"
From these two things they get that he can wiretap at will? One wonders, indeed, why they need the Patriot Act. If Gonzalez defines the use of force as wiretaps, why couldn't he define it as kidnapping, or murder, or, ahem, torture, or genocide? Certainly those are closer to what most people consider "force" than wiretaps are. The authorization didn't say the president can use whatever force he wants, or whatever he defines as force, whether or not he adheres to the laws of the country.
These guys better hope that the gang that shoots even less straight than they do, the Democrats, don't take control of congress in 2006, or they may find themselves in an impeachment trial.
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