On December 17, 2005, President “Bush discussed the NSA [National Security Agency] [warrantless surveillance] program in his Saturday radio address. ‘In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation,’ he said, ‘I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al-Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. Before we intercept these communications, the government must have information that establishes a clear link to these terrorist networks.’ He also said, ‘The activities I authorized are reviewed approximately every forty-five days. Each review is based on a fresh intelligence assessment of terrorist threats to the continuity of our government and the threat of catastrophic damage to our homeland. During each assessment, previous activities under the authorization are reviewed. The review includes approval by our nation’s top legal officials, including the attorney general and the counsel to the president. I have reauthorized this program more than thirty times since the September 11 attacks, and I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al-Qaeda and related groups.’ ”
– James Bamford, The Shadow Factory, Pages 288-289