This is a kato special podcast. I'm Caleb Brown. President Obama wants to extend

key provisions of the constitutionally challenged Patriot Act. For his part,

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold wants to roll back many provisions of the Patriot Act and expose telecoms to liability for helping the government illegally wiretap. Julian Sanchez research associate at the Cato Institute comments.

There's a so-called lone wolf provision that broadens the definition of an agent of a foreign power who's subject to FISA warrants.

There's a so-called business records provision that allows the FBI to demand the production of various kinds of records and there's a so-called

roving wiretap provision that allows warrants to be obtained that can rove

over different communications

might use if you're switching phones for example.

Obama's Justice Department has asked for all three

to be renewed, arguing essentially that these are important tools in the war on terror,

although they know that they have never used the lone wolf provision.

There is a case for at least keeping the business records and roving wiretap provisions with serious modifications.

Unfortunately, in the letter to the Senate, the Justice Department did say they were open to considering modifications.

Russ Feingold wants to roll back many of the provisions of the Patriot Act.

What would happen to these particular provisions?

On Thursday, Russ Feingold and a group of Democratic co-sponsors introduced the Justice Act.

It's another ridiculous acronym law.

And among many other things, it would renew two of these provisions, the business records

provision and the roving wiretap provision.

It doesn't touch the lone wolf provision at all.

And that one I think can just frankly be allowed to expire.

The lone wolf provision really is a response to worries that Zakarayas Musawi, the so-called

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