Justification for Wiretaps Without Warrants?

In arguing in favor of the warrantless wiretaps, the Bush administration defends its actions, for the most part, by just saying that they have the authority. Simply believing they have the authority to do something is not justification enough bypass the FISA court, which has been in place for 26 years.

The FISA court has rejected only 6 out of the Bush administration's 5,645 requests, and modified only 179. That means that 5,460 requests, or 96.7% of all requests for wiretaps were approved without any modification.

In order to get a warrant from the FISA court, it is only necessary for the Bush administration to show probable cause that the subject of the surveillance has ties to a terrorist organization. In the 22 years the FISA court existed before the Bush administration, only two out of 13,102 requests were modified. Additionally, they can seek warrants retroactively for up to 72 hours after a wiretap has begun.

So the question remains, if the subjects of the Bush administration's surveillance really do have ties to Al Qaida, why not get a warrant? The FISA court has essentially been rubber stamping 96.7 percent of all requests since the Bush administration took office.

The Bush administration has committed so many abuses of power, I have lost count. It really is time to start talking about impeachment.