Senate bill strikes a balance between core intelligence needs and civil liberties

[Commentary] If you are wondering why President Barack Obama might consider signing a bill that reduces the executive branch’s flexibility to conduct foreign intelligence operations, it is at least partly because the proposal does little to the statutory core of the National Security Agency’s work: Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Under so-called 702 authority, the NSA is able to collect the content of calls, e-mails and other communications for foreign intelligence purposes. There is still a lot the public does not know about the 702 program and the strength of the privacy protections that it contains, though it is statutorily required to be aimed at foreigners. But ambitious reformers should be careful. Subject to reasonable checks on abuse, the government should have wide authority to seek out bona fide foreign intelligence content. At the least, the fact that the bill does not overhaul the 702 program should not nullify its many other virtues for civil-liberties-minded lawmakers.