Post-9/11 surveillance laws set to expire in US today and Obama says it will make America less secure
Some US surveillance programmes to end today if Congress is unable to agree on new legislation
Barring a last-minute deal in Congress, three post-September 11 surveillance laws used against suspected spies and terrorists were set to expire today.
Obama administration officials said their expiration would make Americans less secure. But civil liberties activists countered by saying that was nonsense.
That heated debate might recede to a simmer if senators, set to meet in an unusual Sunday session, decided to accept a House-passed bill that extends the programmes and then send the measure to President Barack Obama to sign before midnight.
Terrorists like al-Qaeda … aren’t suddenly going to stop plotting against us
Failure to pass legislation would mean new barriers for the government in domestic national security investigations, at a time when intelligence officials say the threat at home is growing.
"If these provisions expire, counterterrorism investigators are going to have greater restrictions on them than ordinary law enforcement investigators," said Nathan Sales, a Syracuse University law professor and former Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration.
Until now, much of the debate has focused on the National Security Agency's collection of Americans' telephone calling records - a practice revealed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
This collection was authorised under one of the expiring provisions, Section 215 of the Patriot Act enacted after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Independent evaluations have cast doubt on that programme's importance, and even law enforcement officials say in private that losing this ability will not carry severe consequences.