It's legal because I say so.(George W. Bush speaks about legality of wiretapping for terrorism prevention)

During his January 26 White House press conference, President Bush dealt with several questions about the administration's use of warrantless wiretaps.

"Your explanation on the monitoring program seems to say that when the nation is at war, the President, by definition, can order measures that might not be acceptable or even, perhaps, legal in peacetime," observed one reporter. "And this seems to sound like something President Nixon once said, which was, 'when the President does it, then that means it is not illegal' in the areas involving national security. So how do the two differ?"

Rather than objecting to this comparison, Mr. Bush actually embraced the astonishing claim made by the disgraced ex-president Nixon.

"Well, I said yesterday that other Presidents have used the same authority. I've had to use technology to protect the American people," he stated. "Other Presidents--most Presidents believe that during a time of war, that we can use our authorities under the Constitution to make decisions necessary to protect us."

Of course, the controversy doesn't deal with the use of "technology," or the use of presidential authority, but rather the claim made by Mr. Bush that he can authorize electronic surveillance without seeking a warrant--even though existing statutes would permit the administration to seek a warrant after the tact. The "other presidents" alluded to by Mr. ...