[BluffTHIS!]

The "slippery sloap" thing is just an overused scare tactic. The only reason to temporarily not follow normal procedures is because the demands of war time intelligence have a greater urgency and the FISA process is actually longer than 72 hours and sometimes is too long for a pressing intelligence gathering need.

We live in a robust democracy and have the ability to elect legislators who can ammend the constitution if necessary to redress anything carried too far. And we actually still have far less secrecy and governmental powers in defense and intelligence matters that Britain does with their Official Secrets Act and the government's ability to use royal prerogative powers, and they haven't gone down the road to 1984 Big Brother, even though some there don't like those government powers either.