Sen Leahy to President Obama: End National Security Association program now

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), one of the Senate’s biggest critics of the National Security Agency’s contentious spying programs, wants President Barack Obama to make drastic reforms himself, after a congressional plan was blocked on the Senate floor.

A day before a key NSA program comes out for court renewal, Chairman Leahy called for President Obama to take action into his own hands. “The President can end the NSA’s dragnet collection of Americans’ phone records once and for all by not seeking reauthorization of this program by the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] Court, and once again, I urge him to do just that,” Chairman Leahy said. “Doing so would not be a substitute for comprehensive surveillance reform legislation -- but it would be an important first step.”