Why No Executive Order To Stop NSA Metadata Collection?

An anonymous reader links to this editorial at Ars Technica which argues that "As chief executive, Obama has the power to reform the NSA on his own with the stroke of a pen. By not putting this initiative into an executive order, he punted to Congress on an issue that affects the civil liberties of most anybody who picks up a phone. Every day Congress waits on the issue is another day Americans' calling records are being collected by the government without suspicion that any crime was committed. 'He does not need congressional approval for this,' said Mark Jaycoxx, an Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney."

Re:So in 2007 Obama...

[phantomfive]

He voted for telecom immunity in 2007. If anyone thought he was against spying when you voted for him, it's because they weren't paying attention (or maybe because they were deceiving themselves?)

He doesn't want to.

[Chris Mattern]

Hasn't anybody listened to the man's statements on the subject? He thinks the NSA metadata collection is just peachy keen. It just hasn't been "explained properly" to the public.

Re:No Law

[schwit1]

The facts do not support your statement There are dates in the Obamacare law that the president has unilaterally changed:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/03... [dailycaller.com]

Re:Is it not obvious? They have dirt on him!

[therealkevinkretz]

Actually, the *are* recording a lot of phone calls. That's just a different program Snowden released info about - and there have been dozens of them.

And "just metadata" allows them to track your location, see who you speak to, and much more:

http://www.washingtonsblog.com... [washingtonsblog.com]

Elite fear political awakening...

[blahplusplus]

... this is why obama is not on your side:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

evidence?

[globaljustin]

extraordinary claims deserve extraordinary evidence

you can't blame Dem's for Bush's policies

NSA warrantless wiretapping started under Bush, everyone knows this: http://yahoo.usatoday.com/news... [usatoday.com]

Re:Bush started warrantless wiretapping

[Bartles]

They became his programs the moment he assumed office. He is the embodiment of the executive branch, and all of its power is vested in him. Congratulations, you seem to have weaned yourself off of asterisks.

He can't stop it, none of them can

[UrsaMajor987]

None of the politicians can really stop this surveillance state. If some politician had the courage to stop it and then some terrorist incident, however minor, were to happen, the opposing party would absolutely crucify him. They all know this. This is why both parties are behaving in the same way. Something really scary happened on 9/11. The politicians promised security in exchange for freedom and people happily agreed. Nothing new there at all. The difference was that this time around, computer technology allowed the creation of a perfect police state. All police states in the past have had a fundamental problem; a society can support only so many secret policemen. Not enough secret policemen to create the perfect police state. With computer technology, that limit is erased. I am afraid this is going to become quite dystopian.