Presidential Authority to Conduct Warrantless Electronic Surveillance to Gather Foreign Intelligence Information [January 5, 2006]   [open pdf - 376KB]

"This memorandum lays out a general framework for analyzing the constitutional and statutory issues raised by the NSA electronic surveillance activity. It then outlines the legal framework regulating electronic surveillance by the government, explores ambiguities in those statutes that could provide exceptions for the NSA intelligence-gathering operation at issue, and addresses the arguments that the President possesses inherent authority to order the operations or that Congress has provided such authority."