Bush gives speech to ultra-secret NSA

FORT MEADE, Md. -- President Bush paid an in-person visit to the ultra-secret National Security Agency on Wednesday to underscore the importance of his controversial order authorizing domestic surveillance without warrants in the terrorism era.\n"We must learn the intentions of the enemies before they strike," Bush said. "That's what they do here. They work to protect us."\nBush's stop at the heavily secured site of the super-secret spy agency in suburban Maryland had two purposes. He was aiming to boost the morale of the people carrying out the work of a 4-year-old domestic spying program in which the government monitors the international communications of people inside the United States whom it believes to have connections to the terrorist network al-Qaida. The president is also leading a wide-ranging campaign by his administration to defend the program, under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike who argue that it might be illegal.\nSenate hearings on whether Bush has, as he claims, the authority to allow the program begin in less than two weeks.\n"We've seen that part of the terrorist strategy is to place operatives inside of our country. They blend in with the civilian population. They get their orders from overseas and then they emerge to strike from within," he told reporters, after speaking behind closed doors to NSA employees and going on a tour of the agency.\n"We must be able to quickly detect when someone linked to al-Qaida is communicating with someone inside of America," he said.\nDemocratic and other critics maintain that Bush already had that authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, passed by Congress in 1978, and that he could have proceeded with intelligence eavesdropping deemed emergency as long as he notified a FISA court within 72 hours to seek approval after the fact.\nBush has argued that process isn't sufficiently flexible.\nAt the NSA, he also repeated his argument that he has the authority "both from the Constitution and the Congress" to go around the act to allow the surveillance. He contends Congress gave him the authority when it passed a resolution allowing him to use force in the War on Terror and that the Constitution gives him the power as commander in chief.\n"The American people expect me to protect their lives and their civil liberties," he said.\nBut Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., issued a blistering attack on Bush's explanations.\n"Obviously, I support tracking down terrorists. I think that's our obligation. But I think it can be done in a lawful way," she said. "Their argument that it's rooted in the authority to go after al-Qaida is far-fetched. Their argument that it's rooted in the Constitution inherently is kind of strange because we have FISA and FISA operated very effectively and it wasn't that hard to get their permission."\nSen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he's eager to learn more when asked on NBC's "Today" show, if Bush broke the law.\n"I don't know. I want to be perfectly clear. I don't know the answer," McCain said. "That's why I welcome the hearings"