FISA Judge: Bush Okay on Wiretaps

It looks like the Dems opposition to the Terrorist Surveillance Program took a hit yesterday:

In a significant vindication for President Bush, a judge who co-authored the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act said Tuesday that the president was duly authorized under the Constitution to order the wiretapping of suspected terrorists - without getting a warrant from the FISA Court.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, former FISA Court Judge Allan Kornblum said that president's Constitutional powers supersede the FISA law, which critics claim the Bush program violated.

"If a court refuses a FISA application and there is not sufficient time for the president to go to the court of review, the president can under executive order act unilaterally, which he is doing now," said Kornblum, in quotes picked up by the Washington Times.

Of course, some media outlets heard the same testimony and reported it completely differently:

While the Washington Times said Kornblum's testimony indicated that the Bush surveillance program did not violate the law, other media outlets interpreted the judges' comments differently.

On the same concept of inherent constitutional authority, the Associated Press quoted Kornblum as saying: "I am very wary of inherent authority . . . It sounds very much like King George."

The AP didn't mention the FISA author's other remarks about Bush having the power to "act unilaterally."

I can't say as I'm surprised.