'Robust' presidential powers needed, Cheney says, in spy-program fallout
Some Republicans call for investigation of legality of actions
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, December 21, 2005


WASHINGTON

Vice President Dick Cheney called for "strong and robust" presidential powers yesterday, saying that executive authority was eroded during the Watergate and Vietnam eras. Some legislators said that President Bush's decision to spy on Americans to foil terrorists showed that he was flexing more muscle than the Constitution allows.

The disclosure of Bush's 4-year-old order approving domestic surveillance without court warrants has set off a fiery debate over the balance of power between the White House, Congress and the judiciary.

"I believe in a strong, robust executive authority, and I think that the world we live in demands it," Cheney said. "I would argue that the actions that we've taken there are totally appropriate and consistent with the constitutional authority of the president.... It's not an accident that we haven't been hit in four years."

Senators from both parties said that the role of Congress may not be sidelined - even in wartime.

"I think the vice president ought to reread the Constitution," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Democrats said they were troubled by the surveillance program and that the president had no authority to approve it.

"He has no legal basis for spying on Americans without court approval," said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate.

Republicans said that Congress must investigate whether Bush was within the law to allow the National Security Agency to eavesdrop - without warrants - on the international calls and e-mail of Americans and others inside the United States with suspected ties to al-Qaida.

"I believe the Congress - as a coequal branch of government - must immediately and expeditiously review the use of this practice," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

Snowe joined three other members of the Senate Intelligence Committee in calling for a joint inquiry by the Senate judiciary and intelligence committees.

The administration defends the program, saying that Congress gave Bush the authority to use "signals intelligence" - wiretaps, for example - to eavesdrop on international calls between U.S. citizens and foreigners when one of them is a suspected member or supporter of al-Qaida.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales justifies the program with the Authorization to Use Military Force law, which Congress passed and Bush signed a week after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The administration says it believes that the law lets the government avoid provisions of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The surveillance act was passed after public outcry over abuses during the Nixon administration, which spied on anti-war and civil-rights protesters. Under the act, an 11-member court oversees government applications for secret surveillance or searches of foreigners and U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism or espionage.

"I'm not a lawyer, but in my reading, it is pretty conclusive, very conclusive, that FISA prohibits all warrantless electronic surveillance of Americans in America," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

Bush and his top advisers have suggested that senior congressional leaders vetted the program in more than 10 highly classified briefings. Democrats said they were told of the program, but had concerns.

On Monday, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, released a letter he wrote to Cheney in July 2003 saying that, given the program's secrecy, he was "unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse these activities."

This story can be found at: http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satel ... 7645509161