Smilinize, I looked at the site which you posted. The first paragraph concurs with what we are saying, that President Bush decided to bypass the panel.

"Government records show that the administration was encountering unprecedented second-guessing by the secret federal surveillance court when President Bush decided to bypass the panel and order surveillance of U.S.-based terror suspects without the court’s approval."

The reason given was that he was unable to get the wiretaps that he wished.

"To win a court-approved wiretap, the government must show “probable cause” that the target of the surveillance is a member of a foreign terrorist organization or foreign power and is engaged in activities that “may” involve a violation of criminal law.

Faced with that standard, Bamford said, the Bush administration had difficulty obtaining FISA court-approved wiretaps on dozens of people within the United States who were communicating with targeted al-Qaida suspects inside the United States."

So, I believe we can all agree that Mr. Bush circumvented the FISA courts, yes?

Now come the other questions.
- Is it illegal to circumvent these courts?
- If it is, would it have been better for Mr. Bush to work to amend the law, rather than breaking it?
- If it is legal, where is the authority giving the president the right to do this?
- Even if it is illegal, is there a majority of American citizens willing to accept the reasons which Mr Bush is giving for bypassing the court?