Congress has a sworn duty in oversite

If you want some more information on this issue, here's a briefing on what the Bush administration has said—and what the truth is. As you can see, they're pretty far apart on this issue.

1.

They have claimed this unauthorized wiretap on phone calls and email was legal because of Congressional resolution.8
WRONG: Congress has passed no resolution allowing the president to ignore the 4th Amendment and spy on Americans.9 Moreover, Congress explicitly denied this right to the administration.10
2.

Then they claimed that they did it because they needed to act swiftly.11
WRONG: Current law allows immediate wiretaping, with up to three days after the tap to get the official court order. 12
3.

They claimed that Congress was fully briefed and knowledgeable on the program.13
WRONG: Only a handful of Congressional leaders were briefed on the program. Those who attended briefings were ordered to keep quiet about it.14 When Congressional leaders submitted concerns to Vice President Cheney's office about the program, there was no response. 15 Now, it also seems that the administration wasn't forthcoming on major parts of the program.16
4.

They argued that the administrative overhead is too high.17
WRONG: Too much 'paperwork' is not an excuse to break the laws of the land. If it did prove to be too difficult, the president could have sought to fix the law; after all, that's what the Patriot Act is all about.
5.

They said that the spying program was narrow and limited.18
WRONG: A New York Times article about the program reports that the data from the eavesdropping program was 'swamping investigators.' "The stream soon became a flood, requiring hundreds of agents to check out thousands of tips a month. But virtually all of them, current and former officials say, led to dead ends or innocent Americans."19
6.

The president said the person who leaked the spy program to the New York Times caused great harm to our security and now the Justice Department is involved in an investigation to discover their identity.20
WRONG: Anyone who brings illegal and unconstitutional activity to light is just doing their job—upholding the laws of the land. Our nation has a rich history of protecting whistleblowers—they are heroes who keep our democracy strong.
7.

The administration is now attacking the Clinton-Gore White House by saying they also engaged in warrantless searches of Aldrich Ames' home.
WRONG: The Clinton White House never violated the law in its searches. Warrants were not required for physical searches at that time, and Clinton supported and signed legislation changing the law to require warrants.21

Sources:

1. "Bush: Secret wiretaps won't stop," CNN.com, December 20, 2005
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/19/bush/

2. "Official: Bush Authorized Spying Multiple Times," Associated Press, December 16, 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10488458/

3. "Report Rebuts Bush on Spying," Washington Post, January 7, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1373

4. "Specter: Bush has no `Blank Check' to Spy," Chicago Tribune, January 16, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1384

5. The Situation Room, CNN, January 16, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1374

6. "Real Oversight on the War on Terrorism," San Francisco Chronicle, July 31, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1375

7. "Bush Vigorously Defends Domestic Spying," CBS News, December 19, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1376