Speaking two days before major provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire, President Barack Obama on Friday warned that without the data collection and surveillance programs, a terrorist could slip by intelligence agencies.
“I don’t want us to be in a situation in which, for a certain period of time, those authorities go away, and suddenly we’re dark, and heaven forbid we’ve got a problem where we could have prevented a terrorist attack or apprehended someone who is engaged in dangerous activity but we didn’t do so simply because of inaction in the Senate,” Obama said at the conclusion of a meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Obama and the administration have been pressing Congress to resolve a dispute over the surveillance provisions, saying the programs are essential to protecting Americans’ national security. Unless lawmakers can come to an agreement by midnight Sunday, the National Security Agency must wind down its bulk phone data collection program, a measure that allows for surveillance of “lone wolf” terrorists and the ability to track burner phones.
The House-passed USA Freedom Act, supported by Democrats and Republicans, would have made changes in the bulk collection program and rolled back some government authority. But the Senate wasn’t able to take up even short-term extensions of the programs after some lawmakers, led by Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, blocked the measure from coming to the floor.
Obama on Friday urged the passage of the USA Freedom Act, which would need to be approved by 8 p.m. ET on Sunday in order for law enforcement agencies to keep the surveillance programs running.
“This not an issue in which we have to choose between security and civil liberties,” Obama said. “This is an issue in which we, in fact, have struck the right balance.”