If President Obama wanted the NSA to quit storing phone metadata, he’d act now

[Commentary] President Barack Obama says he wants Congress to adopt legislation that would end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of telephone metadata, a surveillance initiative exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

As it currently operates, the NSA's collection program gathers and stores the metadata of every call made to and from the United States. "I have decided that the best path forward is that the government should not collect or hold this data in bulk," President Obama said. "Instead, the data should remain at the telephone companies for the length of time it currently does today." Rights groups are applauding the move. But they say it’s virtually a meaningless gesture in its current form.

As chief executive, President Obama has the power to reform the NSA on his own with the stroke of a pen. By not putting this initiative into an executive order, he punted to Congress on an issue that affects the civil liberties of most anybody who picks up a phone. Every day Congress waits on the issue is another day Americans' calling records are being collected by the government without suspicion that any crime was committed.

“He does not need congressional approval for this,” said Mark Jaycoxx, an Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney. Ultimately, congressional action will be necessary even if the President signs an executive order on the issue. Future Presidents are not bound by former presidential decrees, which means the 44th president does not have to adhere to any President Obama promises of ethical and limited metadata use.