Hagel: Bush “Can’t Unilaterally Decide That A 1978 Law Is Out of Date

[kpete]

Hagel: Bush “Can’t Unilaterally Decide That A 1978 Law Is Out of Date…And He Will Violate The Law.”
Karl Rove wants the American public to believe only one political party disagrees with Bush’s warrantless domestic spying program. But Hagel added his name to the bipartisan list of senators who question Bush’s authority to conduct the program:

HAGEL: I don’t believe, from what I’ve heard, but I’m going to give the administration an opportunity to explain it, that he has the authority now to do what he’s doing. Now, maybe he can convince me otherwise, but that’s OK.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But not yet.

HAGEL: Not yet. But that’s OK. If he needs more authority, he just can’t unilaterally decide that that 1978 law is out of date and he will be the guardian of America and he will violate that law. He needs to come back, work with us, work with the courts if he has to, and we will do what we need to do to protect the civil liberties of this country and the national security of this country.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/29/hagel-criticism/