On the recordMay 20, 2015
I wish to thank the Senator from Montana for that excellent synopsis of the issues as well as for the great question. I think the reports by the review committee and the privacy committee, both commissioned by the President, both nonpartisan, are incredibly powerful because not only did they look at the constitutional issue of whether this is a bulk or a general warrant versus an individual warrant, they also saw practically that it wasn't working, it wasn't adding anything to our intelligence. So I think we have sort of a dual reason now to say this is a big problem. One, there are constitutional questions, which I think are very clear, but then the second practical question is that when we examine the evidence--and the privacy commission actually looked at classified evidence; they looked to see whether it was adding anything to this--I am thoroughly convinced that we can catch terrorists with traditional constitutional warrants. When I have talked to former high-ranking heads of our security agencies, they freely admit they get more information with a warrant. It is a little more work. It has to be more specific. But I am also a believer in that because we have generalized what we are looking for and it is indiscriminate, that maybe we are missing people because we are overwhelmed with data. We are overwhelmed with things at the airports.…
