Reading...

Edward Lazarus:

Ordering the warrantless wiretapping of Americans contravenes the constitutional separation of powers by flouting the exclusive legal regime for intelligence-related wiretapping that was established by Congress in the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA), in order to protect the privacy of American citizens and respect the concern about government surveillance reflected in the Fourth Amendment.

...the President's basic strategy on this issue is to make a blanket pronouncement that he has the constitutional authority as "commander in chief" to exercise such power, and then to emphasize that the wiretapping program is essential to the fight against al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

Do these claims set forth even the bare bones of a plausible case for the constitutionality of the President's circumventing Congress and the Constitution's separation of powers?

In this column, I'll explain why the answer is no...

Great stuff. I'm glad there are people with brains out there to see through this crap. I hope it has some effect.