patriot act -- you served with jim sensenbrenner. he didn't authorize all these metadata -- >> let me interrupt. this is really bothering me a great deal. the man betrayed trust to his country. the man was given the opportunity and, frankly i'm one of the few people that think he has a hand or two, it's difficult for me to think that he acted on his own. but perhaps he did. look where he went. i could have taken him up to people on the left and on the right who would have been appalled by that revelation. i should have taken his hand and walked him into the aclu so you could have revealed it. but they're talking 1.7 to 2 million pieces of information and where does he go? he goes to china? and then to russia? >> i've not seen any acts of espionage engaged in by this individual. and you cannot deny that we would not be having this debate -- the president would not be -- well, wait a minute. the fact is the fact. the president would not be giving this speech if these revelations were not disclosed. >> that's right. that's absolutely co

ron johnson of wisconsin and representative jim sensenbrenner. the court had s being asked to block the federal government from paying for health coverage for members of congress and staff. representative sensenbrenner calling it an unfortunate political stunt. senator johnson defending his legal action. >> i don't believe this is trivial, frivolous, that this is a stunt. this is, i think, a very important constitutional question. i think it's a very important issue that deserves a full airing, its day in court, quite honestly a very full public discussion. >> joining us, our political panel. washington examiner chief political correspondent byron york, "fortune" magazine editor nina easton, and "the weekly standard's" john mccormack. before i ask about the wisconsin dynamic because he hails from wisconsin, many awhat's the problem here? -- many awhat's the problem here? >> i think this issue has been hanging around for some time. and i think really resonates politically with people. let's go back to the days when congress exempted itself from al

jim sensenbrenner is next.ver the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreli down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had thpower to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness if you qualify, and new car replacement, standard with our auto policies. so call liberty mutual at... today. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? >>> you know the truth is the nsa keeps tabbing but will its power soon be tapped out or reined in. the president is going to reform it and my guest since it's not enough. thank you for coming. happy new year. >> thank you. >> year not happy about these proposed reforms. you c

. >> this is why jim sensenbrenner, he was the author of the patriot act, the chairman of the judiciary committee on september 11th. he wrote the patriot act and said, a lot of these programs are not working the way i intended and he has put together a piece of legislation, and he says the administration and the spy community is not credible. that's why you need to have legislation. you can't do this by fiat in the administration. a democrat from new york city, a member of the judiciary committee, said, this administration and previous administrations have all used executive powers for their own means and the argument of national defense, and he said this is the same thing happening here. very interesting comments from the house speaker john boehner. he said the house will look at this. he has general bily been very supportive of these programs and said they protected against terrorist attacks but says he's not going to let them cut into the programs. i wonder if that is a comment saying we're not going to let the omash amendment to come up. we are going to whip against the amendment or

>> first of all i have a great eal of respect for congressman sensenbrenner. i'm disappoint and puzzled by his action. issue that i believe republicans publicly because record voting for the treatment i think only two members of congress this was to us ever republican except two in both chambers voted to support of what i'm trying to do in this lawsuit. way, shape orn any form believe this is trivial or a stunt., that this is i think this is a very important constitutional question. i think it is a very important issue that deserves a full airing. it deserves its day in court and public discussion and debate. that is why i'm doing that. disagree with the congressman or anybody else that has hard feelings about it. do you expect to see my more action supporting this? >> was hoping for a legislative fix. i was co-sponsor of an amendment the fact they e were trying to add members of the administration, political appointees, make sure the entire political class has the same experience, good or bad, that public do.n so, i support that amendment. senator reid refuse

i think we have threaded that needle. >> congressman sensenbrenner has worked hard and across the aislengratulate him for it. this bill is not perfect, and it's not yet clear when or if it will come to a vote. but it is progress. and it is time. past time for our representatives in washington to finally take action to write these wrong. the old dining tabe at 25th and hoffman. ...and the little room above the strip mall off roble avenue. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ we're gonna be late. ♪ ♪ ♪ oh are we early? [ male announcer ] commute your way with the bold, all-new nissan rogue. ♪ because an empty pan is a blank canvas. [ woman #2 ] to share a moment. [ woman #3 ] to travel the world without leaving home. [ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. make it delicious with swanson. i've got a big date, but my sinuses are

you see that with representative sensenbrenner and patrick leahy, but then you have the intelligence committees looking to protect the nsa and keep the surveillance programs as they are now. that should play out certainly over the next few months, and we'll see where president obama stands on things. >> host: as a larger issue, the issue of privacy, if you could all address that issue and potential legislative or regulatory reforms. >> guest: well, privacy definitely is moving on many fronts. there's the surveillance issue and the issue of access to consumer data by governments. that's something that, like i said, the hill will be looking at. but also even the fcc is jumping in. they're considering comments on a petition to have current fcc rules apply to government access to user data. but we're also looking at commercial privacy developments. you see multistakeholder events -- or efforts, sorry, just not moving as quickly as some would like, and the hill is taking up that issue. just last month senator rockefeller said during a hearing that commercial privacy is an even bigger deal

and, bob, the law that created 215 under the leadership of jim sensenbrenner. over time, the law has been secretly interpreted to be broader and broader and the case i've been trying to make is that we ought to limit it. we can be effective in protecting our country but we don't need to collect every single phone record of every single american on every single date. you think about it, although these are just phone numbers and times. after awhile they become a form of content. you can read, if you will, what people are doing by analyzing those numbers. when you combine that with the fact that this program has not provided uniquely valuable intelligence, there's no example of where the 215, bulk data collection program is uniquely valuable intelligence we don't need it. in so doing we keep faith with the constitution, we lessen the costs involved we rebuild trust in the intelligence. that's my mission, i want to join chairman rogers and thank all the men and women who keep our country safe. i want to rebuild support for and trust in the intelligence committee, t

the leading legislation in congress but it may not actually go anywhere is known as the leahy sensenbrenner conyers bill. and it would modify the patriot act and the five. the foreign intelligence surveillance court legislation. so that. it would. provide some improvements but it wouldn't provide whistleblower protection it wouldn't really stop this back door. the back door compromising that n.s.a. has undertaken it would not i think. really stop the this massive collection of method data that too from information who sent what to whom and when. in short it does not. it does not invoke the probable cause standard you know our fourth amendment to the constitution says there shall be no search and seizure of personal property or information without the enforcement or surveillance agency going before an independent judge proving that they know what they're doing proving that they're not on a wild goose chase or operating on an empty hunch and. with very specific accounting of who they are looking for and what they are looking for now meanwhile we also have this white house appointed panel they

um is known as the leahy sensenbrenner conyers bill of and it would modify the patriot act and the fire center of the foreign intelligence surveillance court. legislation. so that of ollie way down. we'll provide some improvements but a whimper by whistleblower protection or would really stop this. a back door either the backdoor compromising the nsa has undertaken. it would not. i think of. if you really stop the this massive collection of of the mega data. the two from the information who sent what to do and plan of. in short it does not. of you does not invoke the probable cause standard in all our fourth amendment to the constitution says there shall be no search and seizure of person old property or information without the enforcement or surveillance agency going before an independent judge proving that they know what they're doing. proving that they're not on a wild goose chase for operating on an empty hunch. i ended up with very specific accounting of who they are looking for and what they are looking for now meanwhile we also have this white house appointed can all make the aud

after the break, congressman jim sensenbrenner, he was one of the architects of the patriot act.hing is all right♪ ♪ i'll be the one to tuck you in at night♪ ♪ if you want to leave, i can guarantee you won't find nobody else like me♪ if you've got copd like me... ...hey breathing's hard. know the feeling? copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, troue urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe bett

john sensenbrenner is trying to protect his staff and the other members of congress by working againsttor. this nonsense is being piled up. joining us now is the "a-team." a.b. stoddard, it is so great to have you here with us. and lis wiehl is here with us as well. and also the national review columnist john fund. and this includes the political basis for the decision is taken against and in iraq. what is your reaction? >> and he is known for his bipartisan distance. and it's pretty astonishing taking on people that we work with. lou: is thee anyway that we can escape this kind of baggage that is piled on? with a heavily laden fight? >> at this point what difference does it make? lou: whether it's the president's own cynicism and skepticism. about the quality of this in the strategy being important. whether it is iraq or afghanistan. the amount i think it is fair to say that we elected one of the most important presidents when came to foreign affairs in 2009. in five years and we are paying a very heavy price for that. if you read this carefully, the president has contempt for the mil

it even has the backing of some conservatives, including jim jordan and jim sensenbrenner, the author of the patriot act. the government last year spent about $53 billion on clandestine activities without publicly accounting for the money and as best as we can understand it, because they are part of this, we have it all covered for you tonight and we will be joined by her panel of radio superstars tonight will weigh in on these folks who want to reveal the black budget for intelligence agency work. can you imagine? we will have on the senate intelligence committee report and benghazi and the recommended changes to be robust with the idea of changes at the and nsa. we will be joined by the "a-team" in our radio talkers panel. and jay joins us from the american center of law and justice to talk about their surveillance activities that they wanted for five years and now somehow they are not responsible for. so they want to change things but maybe not. we will take all of that up. also a "new york times" best-selling thriller writer, brad meltzer expanding his empire and he has a new proj

sensenbrenn >>> from the world headquarters of fox news, it is "the kelly file" with megyn kelly. >>> a brutal murder is now getting a new look as family and friends continue to defend the man convicted of killing his own wife. it took two trials before a jury convicted him. prosecutors accused him of stabbing his wife to death. and now his family and hers are standing behind him. trace gallagher live from our west coast with why this story is getting such attention. >> reporter: and megyn, mark and karen were high school sweet hearts, both devout mormons who married as teens, spending the next several years raising their boys. he stayed up late watching baseball, his wife went to bed. he claims he heard cat-like screams, he said his wife was stabbed several times. the family believes it was a home invasion or robbery gone bad. but from the very start police say it was the husband who it turns out was having an on-line affair with a woman he knew in high school. now, the defense points out the bedroom window was torn. that neighbors saw strangers in the area and they saw a car sped aw

one of the people behind this is jim sensenbrenner. to win gop support this time, the bill was written so that voter i.d. laws, not be included as one of the five violations that can trigger preclearance. and as currently drafted the new law would only apply to four states. none of them are north carolina, which has undertaken the most sweeping attack on voting rights in the nation. still, this is forward progress from the state of affairs just yesterday. we're going to see from the republican members of congress, which side they are on. one of them announced, he was so taken with voter i.d. laws, he wants to expand the franchise. he introduced a bill that food stamps recipients display i.d. to get their food stamps. even though fraud is at historic low and need remains extremely high. the real impact of this bill would be to make it harder for the people at the bottom of the economic ladder to get food stamps they desperately needs. david vitter knows that. it is, no matter how he spins it in future, on a bug. >>> hillary clinton hasn

>> first of all i have a great eal of respect for congressman sensenbrenner.i'm disappoint and puzzled by his action. issue that i believe republicans publicly because record voting for the treatment i think only two members of congress this was to us ever republican except two in both chambers voted to support of what i'm trying to do in this lawsuit. way, shape orn any form believe this is trivial or a stunt., that this is i think this is a very important constitutional question. i think it is a very important issue that deserves a full airing. it deserves its day in court and public discussion and debate. that is why i'm doing that. disagree with the congressman or anybody else that has hard feelings about it. do you expect to see my more action supporting this? >> was hoping for a legislative fix. i was co-sponsor of an amendment the fact they e were trying to add members of the administration, political appointees, make sure the entire political class has the same experience, good or bad, that public do.n so, i support that amendment. senator reid refuses

. >> maya, spanking of voter i.d., congressman sensenbrenner said the following: what's a reasonablehe most reasonable is one that doesn't exist. i would say one that allows people multiple ways to identify they are who they are, like a bill, a utility bill. it's better to go back to the system that says we acknowledge we have a pretty good registration system and a good criminal justice system that prosecute when is we have a problem. and because we have a system that prosecutes, we don't have a voter fraud problem. we have a problem, though, with parties and candidates. if we want to pass laws to deal with that, i think that's where our time should be better placed. >> final question to you, judith. one of the things that strikes me is we are seeing inventions of new ways to suppress the vote every day. even talking about this legislation and when you talked about, you know, a known practice coverage, what about things like cross-check, which is something i frankly just learned about this week, which is a way to essentially purge voters from the rolls and other tactics that we know

i know that congressman sensenbrenner and congressman john lewis have proposed a voters bill that wouldurt decision. and this is what martin and i hoped for last year, with the march that there be some bill in congress. but there is no guarantee that they would even bring it up to vote, let alone pass. >> you know, that's right, rev. but actually, i am encouraged. and i do think it's going to come up for a vote. i have to tell you they was very skeptical. but my colleagues who are my elders, mr. conyers, mr. lewis, they told us that they were going to be able to bring republican support, and they've done exactly that. now, it's not the bill we would have written, but it is certainly a start. and i actually am hopeful that it's going to move and it's going to move both in the senate and the house. >> now, martin, a lot of younger people, she talked about her elders and they're ours too. but then we're older than some of younger people that work with all of us. and they don't understand even today, this holiday came about after a fight. your mother had to mobilize all over this country to

reports are that he would agree with the position i've taken and several others, like congressman sensenbrennerd others, to have a public advocate in the fisa court. >> that seems to be the only thing he seems to be endorsing. >> but it's a significant one, and i think it would improve the credibility of the court. >> right. >> and i think we should make more of the decisions public. they could be done so the intelligence people, telling me it can be done without hampering our intelligence. we have to then ask ourselves, if we collect everything, do we have anything? we know, for example, we had plenty of information to stop 9/11. but you had different groups, the cia and the fbi, didn't talk to each other, they never connected the dots over there. we haven't had a single instance where the bulk collection has stopped an attack, even though we're constantly having attacks planned against the united states. so we ought to ask where we are. and then, we have -- the final thing that keeps striking me is that they say, well, we're very protective of all this information. baloney. they weren't prote

wisconsin congressman jim sensenbrenner called it, quote, frivolous.e said senator johnson's lawsuit is an unfortunate political stunt. he should spend his time legislating rather than litigating. spend his time legislating. isn't that a crazy idea? >> yeah. i don't know what the play is for wisconsin republican. we're not talking about someone from the south here. a wisconsin republican to try and for start not be on point for where wisconsin is at in terms of jobs and the economy. i know republicans keep on trying to say that stopping obama care is going to free up the economy somehow. but you can't have it both ways. you cannot say obama care is a complete failure, it doesn't work, and at the same time it's crashing the entire economy. beyond the website, what have they got here? and it's not an agenda to go statewide. for the house republicans, it's something else. they don't need to go statewide. they don't need to bring in the moderates. >> but johnson does. >> he really does. in a piece of legislation it's something you would expect from ted cru

congressman sensenbrenner who's been a leader on this issue, so people who look at the anniversariesking about how to continue the legacy and keep it on the books on the federal code. >> someone who's been talking about this always is john louis, of course, the civil rights icon, and he had this to say at the bill's unveiling. >> it is amazing to me, it is unbelievable, it is almost unreal that we were able to come together so quickly to craft a compromise that both democrats and republicans can find a way to support and move forward. >> a note of optimism, but let me ask you both very quickly, we have less than a minute. judith, what are the chances this gets through? >> i think it's going to get through. we have a bipartisan effort, and it's the voting rights act, and we know that voting is fundamental in this country, and i think they are going to get behind it. >> last time it passed the house by huge majorities, passed the senate with over 90 votes. we know there's a appetite for it, politically, it's going to come down to eric cantor. the votes are on the floor, as we know with

believe that congress will act responsibly here, and the reason i say so is because jim sten n sensenbrenner and democrats agree we shouldn't be doing that, so i think there's reason we can move forward in a bipartisan way to balance the equities in a proper way. we just have seen the other day on voting rights, you know, reasonably, we could try to move the ball forward, particularly with the struck section that the supreme court took out. so, i'm optimistic, but i think we're going to have to have a lot of public engagement, people talking about this issue in shops, hair shops, community meetings, so that we can build a consensus around how much control should the government try to exercise over this information. >> i want to ask you both about priorities and how the president might approach this, how congress might approach this, but let's go to kristen welker, who is at the white house for us. give us a preview of what we're expecting to hear. >> chris, here's what we know, the president is going to try to walk a fine line in this speech. he's going to say that the government should no l

sensenbrenner is a longtime house member and former chairman of the judiciary committee. he is expressing concerns that were -- that have been shared publicly and privately by many lawmakers and senior aides about the possible brain drain by taking away employer contributions. several senators have floated legislative proposals that would accomplish the same goal as the johnson lawsuit. sensenbrenner went on to say "senator johnson should spend his time legislating remember than litigating, as our country is facing big problems that must be addressed by congress, not courts. all republicans want to repeal obamacare but this politically motivated lawsuit only takes public attention away from obamacare and focuses it on a trivial issue. for the notsenator johnsons lawsuit is trivial and will not achieve the result he is seeking." as i started my remarks today we have been able to get a few things done but we have been unable to get some important things done because the goal by the republicans in the congress -- not the republicans in the country but the republicans in the

. >> and there, too, there's actually a bipartisan effort -- congressman sensenbrenner and congressman john conyers, and backed, i believe, i understand, by eric cantor, to fix it, of all things where voting that you guys and we all know has been so partisan, so divisive, so much a subject of discourse. there's actually -- that's an area where there's a chance for bipartisan progress, and i do hope he seizes the chance to talk about it. that would be a very hopeful moment. >> michael, what is the real, and in your view, the most important impact that a great state of the union address can have? >> you know, there are occasionally moments where a president can crystallize an argument, such as when franklin roosevelt talked about the four freedoms. there are other times when a president can change the debate by putting forward a surprising new proposal. i mean, when i worked with president clinton in 1998, we surprised people by putting out a proposal that said, we ought to use the surplus for social security rather than the tax cut. and that actually changed policy right there on the sp

the original author of the patriot act, congressman sensenbrenner now has legislation that would significantly original patriot act legislation. we're going to need to work with the president. by the way, that raises serious questions. congress hasn't exactly distinguished itself in the last couple of years in terms of functionality, but we're going to need to work with the president to find that balance. from my point of view, that involves taking some of these very pervasive surveillance programs and scaling them back. getting judges more involved, reducing the amount of information the government can keep on americans, but that's the president working with the congress. >> ronan, you wrote a piece for "the guardian" and talked about about several issues, one of them, by keeping too many secrets, america has created fertile ground for government distrust and more leaks. so let's talk about at least one particular audience here, which is the american people who are learning, for example, as the congressman said about things like the fisa court. what does the prosecute have to accomplish today

representative jim sensenbrenner who helped write the patriot act when all this nsa came out about collection all the data, he said this is not what the patriot act intended and we need reform. a lot of people are not calling for the destruction of the nsa. they are saying we need more government oversight and it needs to be tailored to terrorism not simply gathering all data an americans not involved in terrorist activities. >> laying out clear manner how it is effective would go a really long way and i'm into the sure that information is necessarily out there. it ace big question mark. we'll see where it goes. thank you very much, katie, kirsten. bill: amazing story of a man going missing and then his parents see this picture in "usa today." a homeless man in washington, d.c. how that picture took that missing man back to his family. plus this. [gunfire] martha: major cities in iraq falling under the control of al qaeda and was this predictable? what can be done about it if anything at this point? kt mcfarland joins us next. [gunfire] g band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life.

jim sensenbrenner will be in attendance.red the patriot act back in 2001. >>> to today's media quandary. some online or old line broadcasters just snagged some of their best ratings in 20 years or more but the internet threat may be bigger than ever. dennis kneale joins to us explain. >> good news, bad news. first, just the good news. boffo tv ratings foo highbrow brits and football hits. of the maybe television is the next thing to be wiped out by the internet after all? sunday night premier of season 4 of highbrow british period drama, "downton abbey", the biggest debut in the network's history. up 22% from the premier a year ago. almost three million twitter users were watching, putting out almost 100,000 tweets on the upstairs downstairs do pell ganger for 15 million impressions. fox, cb such, nbc, garnering the highest ratings in 20 years for the nfl wildcard playoffs. fox's 49ers-packers nail-biter was most watched show, drawing 47 million viewers, biggest wildcard audience ever. the four wildcard playoffs were the fou

host: are you on board with the legislation drafted by your chairman, patrick leahy and jim sensenbrenner? i am not on any piece of legislation at this point, -- ise i have not found want to find the middle ground. even the middle ground can be controversial when you have extreme views over here and well thought out views over here. host: we cover the hearing yesterday with president obama. -- members of his task force that he put together. before we get to phone calls, let me move to the trillion dollar spending legislation. how do you plan to vote? tost: i am probably going vote for it. i have not gone through the 1500 pages yet. host: will you? final bill comes out three days before you're going to vote. thisve been working on over a long period of time. not everything is new. are noto make sure there earmarks in it. if there are earmarks in, both political parties decided no more earmarks. not be any earmarks in it. that might be a reason to vote against it. if it stays within the budget adopted before christmas, that is voting for it. i better reserve judgment until you get through a

civil rights of americans for many years after the jim crow law by recently drawing representative sensenbrennerand we also talk about our national security and sophisticated methods of criminal activity in developing new tools and resources to respond to these threats and this includes remaining true of our liberty and privacy and government responsibilities to the people. we live in a digital age and the challenges even more acute than those that have simple routine tasks including calling a friend in searching for direction on the web. as the technology improves our life the vast amount of data increases. .. i ask at some point is there anything in the u.s. constitution that gives authority to the congress to pass a law that enables and empowers the executive agency such as the nsa or bureau of land and management, for that matter, to open, to listen, or seize either the mail, the phone conversations, or electronic communications of u.s. citizens simply by a law. in vermont we treasure our privacy and it makes me weary of government overreach or lax protection for consumers in these laws. i b

with constant -- wisconsin republican congressman jim sensenbrenner was about a dozen republican lawmakerst with the president at the white house yesterday to discuss the next step. he told fox afterwards, quote, i'm not so sure that the president thinks we need legislation, suggesting that he thinks at least the president may act by executive order rather than coming to congress. but democratic senator ron widen, who also attended the meeting said the next couple weeks be quote, crunch time for both the president and congress how to handle the nsa reforms. jenna? jenna: we'll see what they come up with, molly, thank you. jon: a federal disaster declared in west virginia. a chemical spill there tainting the water supply in nine counties. the latest on that spill and what is being done to help the hundreds of thousands of affected people who have no drinking water. >>> new mortgage rules rolling out today. a look at what these revamped regulations mean for lenders and those of you who might be looking to buy a home in the future. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn? yeah... try new

sensenbrenner and widen in the senate that would like to have a more transparent debate. are, about our privacy, and about how we protect the country and what it means to have privacy, and that is a debate that i think we ought to be having as a country and i don't know that we would have had it at this level had we not seen these leaks that the president was critical of but now congress has the ability in a more transparent way to have a real debate about this and see if they want to change it. >> you have to wonder again if privacy norms will start shifting back after having moved already so far since this country was founded. david, thank you so much. again, you can be sure to catch much more of david. "meet the press" is on sunday. check your local listings for show times. >>> what's trending right now? the top of our website, "the hot list" is coming up next and divorce lawyers for the rich are seeing more inquiries for hungry wives looking for handsome payoffs and handsome new husbands. the stock market has a lot to do with what's going on. we'll he beexplain next.

and poll taxes, that's why i recently joined with representative sense brenner to introduce a -- sensenbrennera bipartisan voting rights act. we also face ever-more complicated threats to our national security. more sophisticated methods of criminal activity. the department has had to quickly develop tools and resources to respond to these threats. but along with these challenges, the challenge remains true to our core values of liberty, privacy, and a government responsible to the people. we live in a digital age. we all know that. challenges are even more acute. every day americans generate enormous amount of information about their lives from simple routine tasks like using a credit card, sending a text message, calling a friend, searching for directions on the web. as technology -- this technology improves our life. the vast amount of data it creates is almost remarkable vealing, vulnerable to exploitation. i'll ask at some point, is there anything the u.s. constitution that gives authority to the congress to pass a law that enables and empowers the executive agency such as the n.s.a. or t

host: are you on board with the legislation drafted by your chairman, patrick leahy and jim sensenbrenneram not on any piece of legislation at this point, -- ise i have not found want to find the middle ground. even the middle ground can be controversial when you have extreme views over here and well thought out views over here. host: we cover the hearing yesterday with president obama. -- members of his task force that he put together. before we get to phone calls, let me move to the trillion dollar spending legislation. how do you plan to vote? tost: i am probably going vote for it. i have not gone through the 1500 pages yet. host: will you? final bill comes out three days before you're going to vote. thisve been working on over a long period of time. not everything is new. are noto make sure there earmarks in it. if there are earmarks in, both political parties decided no more earmarks. not be any earmarks in it. that might be a reason to vote against it. if it stays within the budget adopted before christmas, that is voting for it. i better reserve judgment until you get through all p