Judge Doubts NSA Program Is Constitutional -- But Upholds It Anyway

A federal judge in Idaho upheld the National Security Agency's controversial phone surveillance program. But Judge B. Lynn Winmill seemed to invite the Supreme Court to overturn his decision.

He suggested that the program, which collects data on millions of US phone calls, likely violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures.

Judge Winmill upheld the program because he concluded that his hands were tied by current Supreme Court precedent. He pointed to the Supreme Court's 1979 decision in Smith v. Maryland, which held that people don't expect privacy in the phone numbers they dial.