Administration: NSA Internet tapping not targeted at Americans

The Obama Administration acknowledged a top-secret National Security Agency program that collects information on Internet users. The government insisted the program is aimed only at people outside of the United States and is tremendously valuable in stopping terrorism.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement that the "highest priority" of the intelligence community is to "work within the constraints of the law" to collect, analyze and understand information related to potential threats. "The unauthorized disclosure of a top secret U.S. court document threatens potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability to identify and respond to the many threats facing our nation," Clapper said. Separately, an administration official said: "Information collected under this program is among the most important and valuable intelligence information we collect, and is used to protect our nation from a wide variety of threats."