1. Does anyone really think the NSA has stopped collecting this data? Does anyone really doubt that they have (assuming they even care for the cover) gotten a FISA Court ruling that stays any cessation in the program for 90 days (subject to extension) while waiting for the program to be reinstated?
2. So the Senate is planning on passing a new version of the metadata harvesting program that, rather than having the NSA harvest the data, has the phone companies store it instead, subject to obscure FISA Court warrants to get whatever they want … and, not coincidentally, passing on the cost of storage to the phone companies?
'The expiration of three key provisions of the Patriot Act means that, for now, the N.S.A. will no longer collect newly created logs of Americans’ phone calls in bulk. It also means that the F.B.I. cannot invoke the Patriot Act to obtain, for new investigations, wiretap orders that follow a suspect who changes phones, wiretap orders for a “lone wolf” terrorism suspect not linked to a group, or court orders to obtain business records relevant to an investigation. However, the Justice Department may invoke a so-called grandfather clause to keep using those powers for investigations that had started before June 1, and there are additional workarounds investigators may use to overcome the lapse in the authorizations.'
Which sounds like they really don't need that authority, but will seek to get it back anyway.
I'm not sure whether to congratulate Sen. Paul on what obstruction he's managed to throw in the way of the automatic renewal of the more egregious of the PATRIOT Act provisions, or on coming up with a brilliant tack to achieve prominence for his presidential run. Because, let's face it, for a substantial number of people, condemnation by John McCain is the highest praise they can think of.
(Insert obligatory condemnation of Obama's blanket desire for as much intelligence gathering as is legally possible. It's been one of the more disappointing aspects of his presidency.)
Key Parts of Patriot Act Expire Temporarily as Senate Moves Toward Limits on Spying
A rare Sunday night session led the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, to set up a final round of votes on Tuesday or Wednesday that will most likely send a compromise bill on the collection of phone data to President Obama.
I will note that, if I were a terrorist (which, for the sake of any government types reading this, I am most distinctly not), tomorrow, or maybe the day after (but before the Senate passes some new "compromise" bill) would be an ideal day to commit some terrible act, so as to further drive the American psyche into self-destructive knots.