A bunch of people have asked me for a post on whether the NSA warrantless surveillance program was legal. I'm working on a post now, and should have something up this afternoon. In the meantime, check out the latest on the story here and here.

  UPDATE: From the transcript of the President's press conference this morning:

QUESTION: . . . Why did you skip the basic safeguards of asking courts for permission for the intercepts?

BUSH: First of all, right after September the 11th, I knew we were fighting a different kind of war. And so I asked people in my administration to analyze how best for me and our government to do the job people expect us to do, which is to detect and prevent a possible attack. That's what the American people want.
  We looked at the possible scenarios. And the people responsible for helping us protect and defend came forth with the current program, because it enables us to move faster and quicker, and that's important. We've got to be fast on our feet, quick to detect and prevent.
  We use FISA still. You're referring to the FISA accord in your question. Of course we use FISAs.
  But FISAs is for long-term monitoring. What is needed in order to protect the American people is the ability to move quickly to detect.
  And having suggested this idea, I then, obviously, went to the question, is it legal to do so? I swore to uphold the laws. Do I have the legal authority to do this? And the answer is, absolutely.
  As I mentioned in my remarks, the legal authority is derived from the Constitution, as well as the authorization of force by the United States Congress.