Erin Kelly, USA TODAY 5:43 p.m. EDT May 31, 2015
In this April 7, 2015, file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. holds up his cellphone as he speaks before announcing the start of his presidential campaign in Louisville, Ky.(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)
WASHINGTON — Key sections of the Patriot Act were set to expire at midnight Sunday as the Senate convened to try to end a stalemate over the future of the sweeping anti-terrorism law.
The drama on the Senate floor during a rare weekend session highlighted sharp divisions within the Republican Party over privacy concerns and national security, while carrying immediate implications for government surveillance programs.
Complicating the debate was a threat by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a presidential candidate, to block votes on all the legislation in order to force the expiration of the Patriot Act provisions. Paul believes the three sections set to expire at midnight violate Americans' privacy rights. He said federal agents could still seek a warrant to monitor suspected terrorists even without the Patriot Act powers.
"This is a debate over the Bill of Rights," said Paul, who had the support of about 30 young people wearing "Stand with Rand" T-shirts in the Senate visitors' gallery. "This is a debate over your right to be left alone."
Senators were struggling to choose among competing bills that would extend the Patriot Act as it is through 2020, change it by ending a controversial phone surveillance program or extend it for a short time, so members could try to reach a compromise.
"Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have the opportunity to debate this while the program expires," said Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., blamed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for running out the clock on the law in an effort to persuade senators to extend the law without making any changes to end controversial surveillance programs.
That approach backfired, as Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans concerned about privacy rights balked at renewing the law as it is for another five years.
"We're in the mess we are today because of the majority leader," Reid said Sunday. "The majority leader should have seen it coming. Everybody else did."
McConnell and other security hawks in the Senate argue that Congress should not weaken any of the government's surveillance powers at a time when the USA is being threatened by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups.
"To go dark on this is a risk of Americans' lives," Coats said of the looming Patriot Act expiration.
After about an hour of initial debate Sunday, the Senate planned to take a break to try to reach agreement on a way forward. Senate Republicans were expected to meet for about an hour before taking a series of votes on the Patriot Act.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, urged the Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act, which would rewrite Section 215 of the Patriot Act to end the National Security Agency's mass collection of the phone records of millions of Americans not suspected of any terrorist activity.
The House passed the bipartisan bill on May 13 by a vote of 338-88. President Obama has promised to sign it into law if it is approved by the Senate. That program was made public in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has been charged by US authorities with violations of the Espionage Act and is living in Russia.
"Al Qaeda, ISIL and other terrorists around the globe continue to plot attacks on America and our allies," Boehner said in a statement just before the Senate session Sunday. "Anyone who is satisfied with letting this critical intelligence capability go dark isn't taking the terrorist threat seriously. I'd urge the Senate to pass the bipartisan USA Freedom Act, and do so expeditiously."
Three key Patriot Act provisions were set to expire at midnight Sunday. In addition to Section 215, the expiring sections include a "lone wolf" provision that allows U.S. authorities to target surveillance at suspected terrorists who are acting alone without any direct ties to terrorist groups or rogue nations.
A"roving wiretap" section also is expiring. The provision allows federal agencies to monitor a suspected terrorist rather than a specific phone or electronic device. Criminals often use and throw away multiple pre-paid, disposable cell phones known as "burners."
Senate leaders convened the Sunday session after failing to reach agreement on the issue before their week-long Memorial Day recess.
Senators on May 23 failed to reach the 60-vote super-majority needed to advance bills to renew the Patriot Act without changes through 2020 or to advance the USA Patriot Act. They also balked at agreeing to any short, temporary extensions of the law that would have given Senate leaders more time to reach a compromise.
A federal appeals court ruled in May that the NSA's bulk collection of phone data is illegal and is not what Congress intended when it passed the Patriot Act after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Before Sunday's Senate session, CIA Director John Brennan said on CBS' Face the Nation that "political grandstanding" over reauthorizing key parts of the Patriot Act was threatening national security.
Brennan said the United States faces a level of threats from the Islamic State and other groups that compares with the period leading up to the 9/11 terror attacks. The intelligence community needs "tools" like the NSA's phone-data collection program to understand the tactical moves of terror groups, he said.
"There has been a full-court effort to try to keep this country safe," Brennan said.
However, Richard Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism official, said on ABC's This Week that the authority for the phone data collection is not used often and that the FBI can go to the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court and seek an order to get the records.
"It probably is not as big a deal as the president is making out," Clarke said.
Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook
As lawmakers in Congress struggle to extend the Patriot Act, polls seem to indicate the U.S. public is conflicted about government surveillance. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
In this April 7, 2015, file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. holds up his cellphone as he speaks before announcing the start of his presidential campaign in Louisville, Ky.(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)
WASHINGTON — Key sections of the Patriot Act were set to expire at midnight Sunday as the Senate convened to try to end a stalemate over the future of the sweeping anti-terrorism law.
The drama on the Senate floor during a rare weekend session highlighted sharp divisions within the Republican Party over privacy concerns and national security, while carrying immediate implications for government surveillance programs.
Complicating the debate was a threat by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a presidential candidate, to block votes on all the legislation in order to force the expiration of the Patriot Act provisions. Paul believes the three sections set to expire at midnight violate Americans' privacy rights. He said federal agents could still seek a warrant to monitor suspected terrorists even without the Patriot Act powers.
"This is a debate over the Bill of Rights," said Paul, who had the support of about 30 young people wearing "Stand with Rand" T-shirts in the Senate visitors' gallery. "This is a debate over your right to be left alone."
Senators were struggling to choose among competing bills that would extend the Patriot Act as it is through 2020, change it by ending a controversial phone surveillance program or extend it for a short time, so members could try to reach a compromise.
"Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have the opportunity to debate this while the program expires," said Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., blamed Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for running out the clock on the law in an effort to persuade senators to extend the law without making any changes to end controversial surveillance programs.
That approach backfired, as Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans concerned about privacy rights balked at renewing the law as it is for another five years.
"We're in the mess we are today because of the majority leader," Reid said Sunday. "The majority leader should have seen it coming. Everybody else did."
McConnell and other security hawks in the Senate argue that Congress should not weaken any of the government's surveillance powers at a time when the USA is being threatened by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups.
"To go dark on this is a risk of Americans' lives," Coats said of the looming Patriot Act expiration.
After about an hour of initial debate Sunday, the Senate planned to take a break to try to reach agreement on a way forward. Senate Republicans were expected to meet for about an hour before taking a series of votes on the Patriot Act.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, urged the Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act, which would rewrite Section 215 of the Patriot Act to end the National Security Agency's mass collection of the phone records of millions of Americans not suspected of any terrorist activity.
The House passed the bipartisan bill on May 13 by a vote of 338-88. President Obama has promised to sign it into law if it is approved by the Senate. That program was made public in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has been charged by US authorities with violations of the Espionage Act and is living in Russia.
"Al Qaeda, ISIL and other terrorists around the globe continue to plot attacks on America and our allies," Boehner said in a statement just before the Senate session Sunday. "Anyone who is satisfied with letting this critical intelligence capability go dark isn't taking the terrorist threat seriously. I'd urge the Senate to pass the bipartisan USA Freedom Act, and do so expeditiously."
Three key Patriot Act provisions were set to expire at midnight Sunday. In addition to Section 215, the expiring sections include a "lone wolf" provision that allows U.S. authorities to target surveillance at suspected terrorists who are acting alone without any direct ties to terrorist groups or rogue nations.
A"roving wiretap" section also is expiring. The provision allows federal agencies to monitor a suspected terrorist rather than a specific phone or electronic device. Criminals often use and throw away multiple pre-paid, disposable cell phones known as "burners."
Senate leaders convened the Sunday session after failing to reach agreement on the issue before their week-long Memorial Day recess.
Senators on May 23 failed to reach the 60-vote super-majority needed to advance bills to renew the Patriot Act without changes through 2020 or to advance the USA Patriot Act. They also balked at agreeing to any short, temporary extensions of the law that would have given Senate leaders more time to reach a compromise.
A federal appeals court ruled in May that the NSA's bulk collection of phone data is illegal and is not what Congress intended when it passed the Patriot Act after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Before Sunday's Senate session, CIA Director John Brennan said on CBS' Face the Nation that "political grandstanding" over reauthorizing key parts of the Patriot Act was threatening national security.
Brennan said the United States faces a level of threats from the Islamic State and other groups that compares with the period leading up to the 9/11 terror attacks. The intelligence community needs "tools" like the NSA's phone-data collection program to understand the tactical moves of terror groups, he said.
"There has been a full-court effort to try to keep this country safe," Brennan said.
However, Richard Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism official, said on ABC's This Week that the authority for the phone data collection is not used often and that the FBI can go to the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court and seek an order to get the records.
"It probably is not as big a deal as the president is making out," Clarke said.
Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook
As lawmakers in Congress struggle to extend the Patriot Act, polls seem to indicate the U.S. public is conflicted about government surveillance. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
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