This act is now in the news, here is a link to a PBS site that tells what it is and contains another link to the full text of the law.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sleeper/tools/tools.html
Basically this law set up a special court that meets once a week in complete secrecy (to protect the knowledge of our necessary efforts to keep tabs on people that are threats to our security) to grant approval for the U.S. government for wire taps on U.S. citizens. According to the PBS site, this court has never refused a request for such a wire tap.
This morning on NBC's Meet the Press, it was stated that the law allows a wire tap without the approval of this court in an emergency (meaning a wire tap that can't wait 1 week until the court meets). However, if such an emergency wire tap is ever done without approval, the agency that does this is required to appear before the court and explain what they did and why they did it so that even emergency wire taps are reviewed by the court
It is this law that the President has apparently ignored by personally approving wire taps without the review of this court.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sleeper/tools/tools.html
Basically this law set up a special court that meets once a week in complete secrecy (to protect the knowledge of our necessary efforts to keep tabs on people that are threats to our security) to grant approval for the U.S. government for wire taps on U.S. citizens. According to the PBS site, this court has never refused a request for such a wire tap.
This morning on NBC's Meet the Press, it was stated that the law allows a wire tap without the approval of this court in an emergency (meaning a wire tap that can't wait 1 week until the court meets). However, if such an emergency wire tap is ever done without approval, the agency that does this is required to appear before the court and explain what they did and why they did it so that even emergency wire taps are reviewed by the court
It is this law that the President has apparently ignored by personally approving wire taps without the review of this court.