Bob Barr on Bush's spy program

Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr spoke on CNN about the revelation that President Bush has authorized secret spying activities inside the United States.

"What's wrong with it is several-fold. One, it's bad policy for our government to be spying on American citizens through the National Security Agency. Secondly, it's bad to be spying on Americans without court oversight. And thirdly, it's bad to be spying on Americans apparently in violation of federal laws against doing it without court order."

Atrios has more from the interview.

James Bamford, who has written books on the National Security Agency, had this to say in the AP story about the prez's radio address today:

"I didn't hear him specify any legal right, except his right as president, which in a democracy doesn't make much sense," Bamford said in an interview. "Today, what Bush said is he went around the law, which is a violation of the law — which is illegal."