Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- A federal judge ordered the U.S. government to stop warrantless wiretapping of international telephone calls between suspected terrorists and their U.S.-based affiliates, ruling that the eavesdropping violates the Constitution and federal law....
Taylor upheld a challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups to the surveillance program begun after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. By not seeking court permission for the surveillance, Taylor said, President George W. Bush violated the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers providing for the three branches of government to act as checks on each other's power.
``It was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights,'' the judge wrote in the 43-page opinion....
Taylor rejected the government's argument that the program was authorized by a resolution empowering Bush to use military force in response to the terrorist attacks as well as the president's inherent powers as commander-in-chief.
`No Hereditary Kings'
``The office of the chief executive was itself created, with its powers, by the Constitution,'' wrote Taylor, a 73-year-old senior judge appointed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. ``There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution. So all `inherent powers' must derive from the Constitution.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=ai8G0ttUSFzk&refer=homeNow THAT's what I call a GOOD START!!! :bounce: