Warrantless Searches Nothing New

Although the press and the Dems would have you believe that the Bush Administration has crossed some sort of sacred no-man's land with the decision to allow NSA snooping on international phone calls where one side of the call is in the US, presidential authorizations for warrantless searches are nothing new. In fact, both Presidents Clinton and Carter did much the same thing:

Bill Clinton Signed Executive Order that allowed Attorney General to do searches without court approval

Clinton, February 9, 1995: "The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order"

WASH POST, July 15, 1994: Extend not only to searches of the homes of U.S. citizens but also -- in the delicate words of a Justice Department official -- to "places where you wouldn't find or would be unlikely to find information involving a U.S. citizen... would allow the government to use classified electronic surveillance techniques, such as infrared sensors to observe people inside their homes, without a court order."

Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick, the Clinton administration believes the president "has inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches for foreign intelligence purposes."

Secret searches and wiretaps of Aldrich Ames's office and home in June and October 1993, both without a federal warrant.

Jimmy Carter Signed Executive Order on May 23, 1979: "Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order."

Much ado about nothing.

UPDATE: John Schmidt, former #3 guy in Clinton's Justice Department, says Bush was legal.