Bush to Dems: Stop Your "Delaying Tactics"

Fox News: Bush Addresses Patriot Act, NSA Spying---

WASHINGTON — President Bush held a year-end news conference on Monday, where he defended the use of a domestic eavesdropping program and called for Democrats to stop their "delaying tactics" and reauthorize the controversial Patriot Act.

Bush called the leak of the National Security Agency's eavesdropping program, first reported in The New York Times last Thursday, as a "shameful act" disclosed in a time of war. That report said Bush had authorized the NSA to conduct surveillance of e-mails and phone calls of some individuals in the United States without court warrants.

"The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy," he said. "This program has targeted those with known links to Al Qaeda."

But the program will continue, Bush said, adding that he has reauthorized it over 30 times. "And I will continue to do so for so long as our nation faces the continued threat of an enemy that wants to kill our American citizens."
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On the eavesdropping issue, Bush said "absolutely" he has the legal authority to order such surveillance, and cited Article 2 of the Constitution, which he said gives him the responsibility and authority to deal with an enemy that declares war against the United States. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Congress also gave him the authority to use force against Al Qaeda, he noted, to tackle an "unconventional enemy," some of whom lived in U.S. cities and communities while planning attacks.

"We need to recognize that dealing with Al Qaeda is not simply a matter of law enforcement. It requires dealing with an enemy that declared war against the United States of America," Bush said.

Also:

AP: Gonzales: Congress OK'd Spying