Were the warrantless wiretaps legal?

"No.

By the best reading of the FISA my little non-law school educated brain can muster, the wiretaps were not legal. They don't bother me, but unless I am missing something, I cannot make an intellectually honest argument that FISA allows warrantless wiretapping on US persons who are not agents of a foreign government.

Prior to the fall of the Taliban, I think the argument could reasonably be made. But when the Taliban fell, Al Qaeda became an extragovernmental agency. You know, like Halliburton. That said, I also don't believe that if you're so tight with Khalid Sheikh "Homeslice" Mohammed that he's got your cell phone on speed dial and you don't deliver falafels for a living, you don't exactly have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

That said, it appears to me that the Administration crossed the statutory line."
CounterColumn

Thank you Jason. Except I don't think at this point the administration should petition anything, they should resign.