Bush, Obama, FISA, Patriot Act And NSA Spying-Joseph Maloney

January 26, 2006, President George Bush defends his domestic program of warrantless surveillance, “There’s no doubt in my mind it is legal.”  Bush added,  The 1978 FISA was outdated” and “doesn’t let us do the job we’re suppose to”.  Democrats have accused the president of breaking the law in allowing eavesdropping on overseas communications to and from U.S. residents, and even some members of his own party have questioned the practice.  http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11042218/ns/us_news-security/t/bush-defends-domestic-surveillance-program/#.UtzWgYl6k5U.twitter  On July 10, 2008 President Bush signed HR 6304 (110th): FISA Amendments. This Act may be cited as the “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 or the  FISA Act of 2008 @govtrack 
2008 FISA, The government may not “target” Americans under the broad “authorization” discussed in the previous section, and in some cases the government may discard information obtained about Americans as part of the required “minimization” procedures, but the government would retain significant latitude to decide which information it retains.
On December 30, 2011, President Obama signed  HR 5949 (112th) FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012. A one page document extending the FISA Act for 5 years to December 31, 2017. @govtrack
 
The Patriot Act was signed by President Bush on October 26, 2001, and the USA PATRIOT ACT Improvement and Reauthorization Act was signed by President Bush March 9, 2006, “It will improve our nation’s security while we safeguard the civil liberties of our people”.   http://www.georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/patriotact 
 
February 25, 2011 President Obama signed a temporary extension of the Patriot Act.  The law extended two areas of the 2001 act, and a third provision gave the FBI court-approved  rights for surveillance of “non-American “lone wolf” suspects http://tinyurl.com/6cspgdx
May 27, 2011 President Obama signed a four year extension of the post-Sept 11 powers to search records and conduct roving wiretaps in pursuit of terrorist by autopen in France and said, “It’s an important tool for us to continue dealing with ongoing terrorist threat”.  The bill passed the Senate by a 72-23 vote, and the House by a 250-153.
The measure would add four years to the legal life of roving wiretaps, authorized for a person rather than a communication line or device: court-ordered searches of business records; and surveillance of non-American “lone wolf” suspects without confirmed ties to terrorist.
The ACLU points out that court approvals for business records access jumped  from 21 in 2009  to 96 in 2010 contending the the Patriot Act has blurred the lines between investigations of actual terrorist and those not suspected of doing anything wrong.
Senator Wyden (D) of Oregon says that while there are numerous interpretations to how the Patriot Act works, the official government interpretation of the law remains classified.  “A significant gap has developed now between what the public thinks the law says and what the government secretly claims it says” Wyden said. http://huff.to/iwIpDU