GOP senators add heat on spying
Specter urges AG to get court review
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | February 7, 2006
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Specter rejected Bush's argument that Congress had effectively authorized Bush to spy on Americans without warrants when it gave him broad authority to use force against the perpetrators of the 2001 terrorist attacks. He said his fellow senators had been ''shocked" by that contention and that the administration's legal position ''just defies logic and plain English."
Graham said the administration was putting soldiers and intelligence officers at risk of prosecution by asking them to follow orders that violate the law. He said Congress would be much less willing to give presidents the authorization to use force in future crises because of the administration's expansive view of the powers the authorization conveyed.
Snip...
Democrats echoed those themes, but were more harsh in their rhetoric. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee's ranking Democrat, claimed to speak for ''every single member of Congress no matter what their party or their ideology" in offering a message for Gonzales to take back to Bush.
''Under our Constitution . . . we make the laws," Leahy said. ''If you believe you need new laws then come and tell us. If Congress agrees, we'll amend the law. If you do not even attempt to persuade Congress to amend the law, then you're required to follow the law as it's written. That is as true of the president as it's true of me and you and every American. That's the rule of law."
more...
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/02/07/gop_senators_add_heat_on_spying/?page=2No one is above the law is rhetoric?
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