Discuss whether the need of domestic intelligence gathering and an increase in executive power should outweigh

Question

the civil liberties guaranteed in the Consitution

Answer 1

Nothing should outweigh what has been given in the Constitution and the natural rights' of man. The Constitution is the handbook for our government.

Maybe if we followed it in the first place, there would be no need for that much intelligence gathering.

Answer 2

Well, to truly explore that question you need to go all the way back to February of 1995 when President William Jefferson Clinton signed Executive Order #12949 which authorized electronic surveillance and physical searches without a warrant from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court for up to 72 hours. And that was long before we have needed such a program to counter terrorism. I bring that up because it was that Executive Order which was codified in U.S. law when the Congress passed Public Law #107-108, a section of which amended the FISA Act of 1978 to permit the actions that Clinton permitted in his Executive Order.

What I find remarkable is the stunning silence of civil libertarians in the period between 1995 and December of 2001 regarding this issue. It appears to me that all of the outrage about this issue has a partisan political tinge to it.

Answer 3

I'm pretty sure it was Benjamin Franklin who " Any man who would give up a little freedom for a little safety deserves neither"