Administration appeals ruling on warrantless surveillance program.

The U.S. Justice Department on October 13 asked the federal appeals court in Cincinnati to overturn a lower court decision that the National Security Agency's warrantless electronic surveillance program is unconstitutional. The appeals court had earlier agreed that the administration could continue the program while it is being appealed--a process that could take months.

But this is not the only front that the Bush administration has been aggressively pursuing to make the warrantless eavesdropping program permanent. Though the administration had implemented the program in secret, based on claimed executive authority, it has been seeking congressional approval. But that approval, even if granted, would not change the program's obvious unconstitutionality. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution clearly states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated."

Despite this constitutional protection, the House passed its version of the NSA warrantless surveillance bill in late September, but the Senate equivalent of the bill did not make it to the floor for a vote prior to the preelection adjournment. However, there is a good chance that Congress will take up this issue once again during the lame-duck session after the elections.