1. I believe that the Executive branch shouldn't be able to spy on Americans without a warrant to prevent terrorist attacks. This directly goes against the fourth amendment's right against to unreasonable search and seizure.
2. Post September 11th 2001, the federal government scrambled to respond to the terror attacks. A major piece of legislation was passed, the Patriot Act, this broad Act allowed the federal government to search various type of records in order to prevent against future terror attacks. Recently ACLU has challenged NSA, arguing that there individual right have been violated.
3. From a constitutional point of view the fourth amendment clearly protects against these actions. The fourth amendment states the right against unreasonable search and seizure. Only through a warrant granted with probable cause, may a search or seizure be justified. Another argument is the supreme court case Hamdi v. Rumsefeld which the court ruled that the U.S. Government has the right to detain individuals without charges or trials, but they are allowed to challenge their treatment in court. Another part of the Patriot act allows for searches of homes to be conducted and then the owner is informed later, this further violates the fourth amendment
4. There are many views against ACLU, but the major argument is through the Patriot Act. The Act previously explained, allows these searches in order to prevent future attacks on national security and matters of protecting national security may sometimes infringe upon individuals rights.
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