We Don't Need No Steenkeen Court Order

The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, disclosed this week that during a secret briefing to members of Congress, he was told that the contents of a phone call could be accessed "simply based on an analyst deciding that."

If the NSA wants "to listen to the phone," an analyst's decision is sufficient, without any other legal authorization required, Nadler said he learned. "I was rather startled," said Nadler, an attorney and congressman who serves on the House Judiciary committee.

  CNET

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.


UPDATE 6/17:

Since the scandal broke, Nadler has walked back his comments in a statement. "I am pleased that the administration has reiterated that, as I have always believed, the NSA cannot listen to the content of Americans’ phone calls without a specific warrant," the New York Democrat told Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski.

  Yahoo

Perhaps, legally, you mean. Otherwise at any rate, it can collect any of the information and hold it until it decides to request a specific warrant. And I assume that means the government can record the content and stash it. Which, even in the unlikely event that is untrue, it is definitely true that the government has been collecting the metadata on calls, which can tell them who you are, who you call and who they call. This business about not knowing exactly what you are saying is meaningless distraction.