Spiraling spy game.

Byline: The Register-Guard

After Sept. 11, 2001, Americans recognized the need to shift the balance between national security and individual rights. But they never intended to wipe out the checks and balances that have provided an effective framework for government since the founding of this nation.

By rushing through a flawed USA Patriot Act in the fear-filled weeks after 9/11, Congress unwisely granted the executive branch broad and unprecedented authority to bypass judicial review and congressional oversight in conducting counter-terrorism investigations.

Four years later, just as a sleep-walking Congress was preparing to reauthorize the entire Patriot Act, a disturbing report in The New York Times served as a timely reminder of the perils of allowing the executive branch to act unilaterally outside the traditional framework of accountability and control.

The Times reported, and the White House later confirmed, that President Bush has authorized the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance, without court-approved warrants, of U.S. citizens and U.S. residents suspected of terrorist ties.

Like many of its post-9/11 powers, the Bush administration claimed this one without authorization by Congress. In 2002, the president signed a secret executive order overriding a 25-year-old law barring the government from spying on Americans without prior approval and supervision by the courts.

Bush claims the Constitution grants him the authority to arbitrarily order eavesdropping on U.S. citizens and to bypass this nation's courts. That's an astonishing reading of this nation's founding document, which prohibits unwarranted spying on Americans.

More puzzling than Bush's decision to ignore the Fourth Amendment is the fact that he felt the need to do so. Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, national security wiretaps can be authorized by a secret federal court. The FISA court swiftly issues warrants after making certain the government has sufficient reason to believe that the targeted citizens may be involved in terrorism.

If administration officials felt FISA was too balky or cumbersome, they could have asked Congress to amend the law. Instead, they decided unilaterally to defy the law and to assume, based solely on the president's authority, the power to conduct national security surveillance.

On the same day that the Times revealed the secret spying program, the U.S. Senate wisely rejected reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Members of both parties have called for an extension of the existing act for 90 days, so that lawmakers can make certain it contains sufficient safeguards against similar abuses of presidential authority.

Based on last week's revelations, Congress should approve that extension and make certain the Patriot Act contains the safeguards necessary to protect civil liberties. Meanwhile, it should order an immediate halt to - and a full review of - the illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens.

Contrary to what Bush says, the fight against terrorism does not negate the need for accountability in government. If anything, stronger investigative powers require stronger checks and balances to ensure that the nation being protected remains a free and democratic one.