This is fuckin nuts
They’re not debating whether they can spy on people. That’s a given. They’re debating whether they can bypass FISA judges to spy on people with no oversight in some circumstances, and what those circumstances can be. A summary of the history:
“Hey we need to spy on these people ‘cause we’re law enforcement and they’re maybe doin crimes”
“Okay cool get a warrant. It’s not like they’re shy about handing them out, but we need to have judges overseeing that. Our experience has been that if there are people who can just spy on whoever they want whenever they want it sometimes becomes a big big problem.
“No I can’t get a warrant, the proof is way too secret to even show a judge.”
“Uhhh… ok. Maybe? Okay. How about this: We’ll make a whole system of FISA courts where you can go and get a special warrant where you can share secret information to get the warrant. And we’ll make it so they’re very very very not shy about handing them out, like 99%.”
(Time passes)
“Hey I don’t wanna use the FISA courts, can I just”
I can’t comprehend how anyone can look at that question and the answer is any kind to debate, instead of just shouting NO before the question is finished.