This morning President Obama gave a speech outlining changes to the NSA surveillance program which has become a major scandal after leaks by Edward Snowden. Senator Rand Paul, who has previously been a strong opponent of surveillance, posted a blunt response to the speech on Twitter.
ICYMI: Here is the cliff notes version of @BarackObama‘s #NSA reforms. pic.twitter.com/Q0H1Q941ap
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) January 17, 2014
As you can see, this is the bill of rights and the 4th amendment has been redacted. The 4th amendment reads:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized.
The amendment restricts the use of general warrants which had been used by the British prior to the revolution. Some observers believe the government’s collection and storage of phone metadata is too similar to a general warrant or is an unconstitutional violation of the 4th amendment for other reasons.
In his speech today, President Obama called for an end to the government storage of phone metadata.
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