WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Thursday said intelligence activities he has authorized are lawful and the government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval.
"The privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities. We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans," Bush said.
The president came out to defend the administration's domestic spy program after USA Today reported the National Security Agency was secretly collecting phone records of tens of millions of Americans from phone companies to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity.
"The intelligence activities I authorized are lawful and have been briefed to appropriate members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat," Bush said.
Revelation late last year that the NSA was eavesdropping inside the United States on international phone calls and e-mail of terrorism suspects prompted an political uproar. Bush did not say the report was inaccurate.
Bush said, "Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda and their known affiliates."
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