Okay, I see the root of this disagreement with OldWorldOrder.
I think the NSA does some stuff that is legal and have been caught doing some stuff that is not legal. I will not state that
everything the NSA does is either legal or illegal.
I would suggest reading the ruling of Judge John Bates from the FISC.
http://www.lawfareblog.com/wp-conte...016974-FISA-court-opinion-with-exemptions.pdf
PAGE 28 Judge Bates states:
But for the first time, the government has now advised the Court that the volume and nature of the information it has been collecting is fundamentally different from what the court had been led to believe.
Page 29 Judge Bates, FISC, states:
"The court is
UNABLE (emphasis mine) to find that NSA's minimization procedures, as the government proposes to apply them in connection with MCTs are "reasonably designed in light of the purpose and technique of the particular [surveillance or physical search], to minimize the acquisition and retention, and prohibit the dissemination, of nonpublicly available information concerning unconsenting United States persons consistent with the need ot the United States to obtain, produce and disseminate foreign intelligence information"
Same page he continues:
The court is also UNABLE (emphasis mine) to find that NSA's targeting and minimization procedures, as the government proposes to implement them in connection with MCTs,
ARE INCONSISTENT WITH THE FOURTH AMENDMENT (emphasis mine).
MCT=multi-communication transactions
I also recommend
New FISC Pen Register Opinion: It
I would say illegal stuff is going on. Just because nobody has gone to jail doesn't mean that someone hasn't broken the law. Hell, look at the IRS and VA situation, just to name a couple. Several Judges have had to reign in the NSA and the FBI because they collected data that they weren't authorized to collect.