Laws Were Made To Be Broken (By The President)

If you can believe it, the President's spaghetti strainer of a legal defense doesn't hold much water under scrutiny. A CRC (Congressional Research Service), a nonpartisan organization, reports that the President's warrantless wiretapping program does conflict with the law-

Washington Post: Report Rebuts Bush on Spying
Domestic Action's Legality Challenged

A report by Congress's research arm concluded yesterday that the administration's justification for the warrantless eavesdropping authorized by President Bush conflicts with existing law and hinges on weak legal arguments...

...The 44-page report said that Bush probably cannot claim the broad presidential powers he has relied upon as authority to order the secret monitoring of calls made by U.S. citizens since the fall of 2001. Congress expressly intended for the government to seek warrants from a special Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court before engaging in such surveillance when it passed legislation creating the court in 1978, the CRS report said.

The report also concluded that Bush's assertion that Congress authorized such eavesdropping to detect and fight terrorists does not appear to be supported by the special resolution that Congress approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which focused on authorizing the president to use military force...

..."This report contradicts the president's claim that his spying on Americans was legal," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), one of the lawmakers who asked the CRS to research the issue. "It looks like the president's wiretapping was not only illegal, but also ensnared innocent Americans who did nothing more than place a phone call."...

And a new poll shows that Americans do believe in laws...
AP: Poll: Most Say U.S. Needs Warrant to Snoop

...56 percent of respondents in an AP-Ipsos poll said the government should be required to first get a court warrant to eavesdrop on the overseas calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens when those communications are believed to be tied to terrorism...

The remaining 44%? Fox News employees, Matt Drudge, Michelle Malkin, and the staff of FreeRepublic.