Jim Sensenbrenner , the lawmaker behind the Patriot Act , has accused the NSA of abusing the law. Sensenbrenner created the US Patriot Act after the terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001. One section of the law includes Section 215, which gives the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ( FISA ) the authority to issue surveillance warrants.
Basically, this is the article of the law that the intelligence service exploits to rationalize their spying activities.
“The Patriot Act supports our government’s targeted targeting of terrorists, but it has not struck the right balance between civil rights and American security. A sufficiently intrusive government that claims to do so in good faith should not be immune to the simple truth that central authority threatens freedom,” Sensenbrenner said in a statement.
“Americans are increasingly wary of Washington violating their privacy rights while touting the Fourth Amendment.”.
