This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, October 22nd, 2007. I'm Caleb Brown.

What changes are needed to the way we gather foreign intelligence?

Cato Institute adjunct scholar Tim Lee says the Bush administration's expansive view of executive authority in that area is troubling and

even legislation now pending before Congress doesn't do enough to provide judicial

oversight of President Bush's wiretapping efforts.

FISA is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

It was legislation that was passed in the wake of Watergate that governed the rules for engaging in

in surveillance for national intelligence activities on US soil.

The Constitution doesn't place any limits on genuinely foreign surveillance that takes

place outside the United States borders, but if the FBI or the NSA or somebody is engaging

in surveillance of spies or terrorists or

somebody inside the United States they need to get they can get a warrant from

this special FISA court the process is sort of secret. There's, and it's an

expedited process so that they can get these warrants very quickly, but it's what governs the intelligence

gathering activities within the United States.

To what extent can law enforcement go back and get a FISA warrant after they have begun executing wiretaps?

That's a good point.

One of the important provisions of FISA, which I think raised a little bit of concern

from civil libertarians at the time, but there's some good arguments for it, is that it allows retroactive

warrants where an intelligence agency can go out and begin the wiretap and then within 72

hours go to this special FISA court and get court approval and that

obviously in cases where you have an emergency where you've got some foreign power you want

...