According to the Council on Foreign Relations article ‘NSA Eavesdropping’ dated January 28, 2008, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said that Congress granted President Bush authority to spy on U.S. citizens on September 17, 2001. “Under existing law the NSA [National Security Agency] should have sought permission from the secret FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] court in Washington before listening in on the communications of any ‘U.S. persons’–basically, American corporations, citizens, and others lawfully inside the United States–who had turned up in al-Qaeda phone books and directories.”
– Thomas Powers, The Military Error, Page 88