Union Leader - Another View -- Rand Paul: NSA ruling is important victory for privacy of Americans

Op-Ed

By Rand Paul

I believe that every American has the right to privacy as guaranteed by our Constitution. When I took office, I vowed to uphold and protect these rights.

I've long said who you call and what you say on your cellphone is none of the government's business, and now, the courts agreed.

In a monumental decision, an appellate court last Thursday struck down the government's broad, undefined, and illegal war on civil liberties, ruling that it is unlawful for the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect the bulk metadata of American citizens.

This is an important victory for privacy, but the fight for the founding principles of liberty isn't over. We must take this fight to the Supreme Court and Congress until this perversion of liberty is completely annulled. We must remember that our rights are unlimited, un-enumerated, and given to us by God. Your rights are who you are and I believe that those living in the "Live Free or Die" state can certainly respect that.

Mr. Verizon, Mr. Sprint, and Mr. AT&T are not individuals and "general warrants" that authorize this dragnet surveillance on millions of Americans violate the very intent of the Fourth Amendment. Simply owning a cell-phone does not mean you must forfeit your constitutional rights.

From your phone records, the government can obtain the most intimate details of your life, and this domestic NSA spying is simply not acceptable in a free society.

Opponents of civil liberties argue the NSA data collection program has made our country more secure, but even the most enthusiastic defenders of the program have not been able to give a single example of a terrorist attack foiled by the government overreach.

The NSA should keep a close watch on suspected terrorists in order to keep our country safe, but when we forfeit our liberties we allow the terrorists to win. The sacrifice of our personal liberty for security is and will forever be a false choice, and I refuse to relinquish our Constitutional rights to opportunistic and overreaching politicians.

As President of the United States, I will immediately end the NSA's illegal bulk data collection and domestic spying programs. I will take my responsibilities seriously and protect the Fourth Amendment rights of all Americans.

I believe the overreaching NSA spying program represents the worst of the "Washington Machine". Granting intelligence agencies unprecedented power without effective oversight -- or even debate--may not be bad for the business of the Washington machine, but it's bad for Americans.

We have set up a privileged class in Washington and Americans are sick and tired of it. These elites say, "Trust us, we won't violate your privacy."

We must believe in our founding documents. The Constitution is clear, and so is the objective of terror.

Terrorists seek to disrupt and impact our way of life. Forcing us to act outside of our principles, in ways that threaten the foundations of our great nation, cause as damaging a long term harm to the United States as any enemy could hope to achieve. Some say the ends justifies the means, but this is a false trade-off if the means are just as malignant. Our nation must come out of this war the same country we were on September 10th, 2001. If we don't, we have lost.

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