FISA stands for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which authorizes warrantless searches of communications with suspected spies and terrorists, but concerns exist that it allows open ended monitoring of anyone the government wants to surveil:
Critics of the bill, including Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat, and Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, expressed concern that electronic surveillance, though directed at noncitizens, inevitably swept up communications of Americans as well.
“The Fourth Amendment was written in a different time and a different age, but its necessity and its truth are timeless,” Mr. Paul said, referring to the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. “Over the past few decades, our right to privacy has been eroded. We have become lazy and haphazard in our vigilance. Digital records seem to get less protection than paper records.”
But the bill passed by comfortable margins in each chamber:
The bill, which extends the government’s surveillance authority for five years, was approved in the House by a vote of 301 to 118 in September. Mr. Obama is expected to sign the bill in the next few days.
It passed the Senate 73 - 23. Who says government is broken?
