A Constitutional Strategy to Stop NSA Spying

The National Security Agency looks at literally millions of phone records.  It captures millions of e-mails.  It sifts through millions of megabytes of private data.

And it does this all without following the requirements of the Fourth Amendment.

It can be stopped.  How that can be done in a moment — but first, a closer look at current strategies and roadblocks.

Defending Itself

In a recent press release, one spokesperson went so far as to call criticism of the NSA a “disservice to the nation.”

NSA conducts all of its activities in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies – and assertions to the contrary do a grave disservice to the nation, its allies and partners, and the men and women who make up the National Security Agency.

It shouldn’t be any surprise that the NSA would claim that it operates legally.  No agency is likely to do otherwise.  More importantly, though, under the Constitution, executive agencies don’t get to determine the lawfulness of their own operations.

Thomas Jefferson put it this way:

The government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers.

Not Gonna Happen

Many Americans consider the actions of the NSA to be unconstitutional but feel helpless to stop it.  Here are a few problems.

1. The NSA has absolutely no intention of stopping what it’s doing.  None.
2. Congress is either happy about this or too weak to do anything about it.
3. A federal court system that doesn’t seem to have an issue with a “tax” on inactivity is not likely to have a problem with these actions, either.

Some members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have introduced bills in an effort to bring the NSA under control.