The Obama administration on Friday asserted a bold and broad power to collect the phone records of millions of Americans to search for a nugget of information that might thwart a terrorist attack.
In a 22-page white paper, the Department of Justice for the first time detailed its legal rationale for a massive National Security Agency data collection program that it claimed is both constitutional and subject to federal oversight.
The report, which echoes assertions the administration has made to Congress, said the law and subsequent court decisions bestow broad power on the federal government to seek telephone records "relevant" to investigations of suspected terrorism.