Bush Caves to Dems and the Left: Cedes Lawful Presidential Power to FISA

Mark Levin spoke on his radio program yesterday about "The Gonzalez Letter" and the Bush administration's attempt to spin the move that weakens legal, constitutional presidential power in time of war. He is joined on the broadcast by his friend and former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy.

Listen to Mark Levin's remarks on the administration's capitulation to the Left .(9.43MB 00:10 MP3)

"The Gonzalez Letter" is the title of Mark Levin's article in NRO (National Review Online Jan. 18)
Here is the lead to the article:

"Well, the administration spin is on, and it’s dizzying.

First things first. The Fourth Amendment has no application where the government, during war, is intercepting enemy communications and the purpose is to prevent attacks on the United States by foreign enemies. That’s what the Constitution provides, that’s what the relevant circuit court decisions have held, and that’s what our history demonstrates. The president’s constitutional authority cannot be trumped by statute — or by the other branches. If FISA limits that authority, as some suggest, then it is unconstitutional. If Congress insists that the president comply with FISA in contravention of his constitutional authority, then Congress demands that the president violate the Constitution."

And these further comments by James Taranto; WSJ Best of the Web Today:

What the administration does not say, but many who have supported it on this issue (including us) suspect, is that this was a capitulation--that, faced with a Democratic Congress and a Supreme Court majority eager to meddle in wartime matters, the administration backed down to avoid a confrontation it was likely to lose. The administration still argues that the executive branch has the inherent authority to conduct such surveillance, but now that proposition will not need to be tested under unfavorable conditions.