Today, President Obama urged the Senate to renew NSA surveillance powers before they expire on Sunday. “I strongly urge the Senate to work through this recess and make sure that they identify a way to get this done,” Obama said.
Obama said reauthorizing the surveillance efforts is “necessary to keep the American people safe and secure.”
The Senate rejected the House bill by three votes last weekend and is on a break until Sunday, just hours before the spying powers are scheduled to expire.
In rallying support for the law, the Obama administration is calling on party lines. "Right now, I think what we're seeing is a difference of opinion on the Republican side of the aisle," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. "At some point, the political ambitions of individual members of the United States Senate are going to have to come second to the national security of the United States."
FLASHBACK 2006:
"We look forward to a renewal of the Patriot Act in 2006, because that law has done exactly what it was intended to do -- and this country cannot afford to be without its protections," Dick Cheney.
