Bush vows to continue domestic surveillance

WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush, brushing aside criticism in Congress, said Monday he approved domestic spying on suspected terrorists without court orders because it was "a necessary part of my job to protect" Americans from attack.

At a White House news conference, Bush also acknowledged that a prewar failure of American intelligence — claiming that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction — has complicated the United States' ability to confront other potential emerging threats such as Iran.

"Where it is going to be most difficult to make the case is in the public arena," Bush said. "People will say, if we're trying to make the case on Iran, `Well, if the intelligence failed in Iraq, therefore, how can we trust the intelligence on Iran?'"

The news conference was the latest in a series of events — appearances outside Washington, meetings with members of Congress and a White House address on Sunday night — in which Bush has sought to quell criticism of the war in Iraq and reverse his monthslong slide in the polls.

Bush's efforts have been helped by relatively smooth elections in Iraq last week and by minority Democrats' failure to take a coherent stance on the war. But he has come under fire again, by some Republicans as well as Democrats, following revelations that he authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop

on conversations in the United States without first obtaining court approval.

But Bush said he would continue authorizing the surveillance "for so long as the nation faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill American citizens." He said the surveillance program included safeguards to protect civil liberties.

Raising his voice, Bush challenged Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton — without naming them — to allow a final vote on legislation renewing the Patriot Act, the domestic anti-terrorism law enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "I want senators from New York or Los Angeles or Las Vegas to go home and explain why these cities are safer" without the extension, he said.

Reid represents Nevada; Clinton is a New York senator, and both helped block passage of the legislation in the Senate last week. Renewal of the law has stalled largely because of civil liberties concerns, which have been deepened since the domestic spying program became known.

"In a war on terror we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment," Bush said.

Reid fired back with a statement that advised Bush and Republican leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate to "stop playing politics with the Patriot Act."

In opening remarks, Bush said the warrantless spying was an essential element in the war on terror.

In the Capitol, Democrats rejected Bush's rationale and said he had abused his authority.

"Where does he find in the Constitution the authority to tap the wires and the phones of American citizens without any court oversight?" said Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan.

Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, also a Midwestern state, said, "We will not tolerate a president who believes that he is the sole decision-maker when it comes to the policies that this country should have in the war against terror and the policies we should have to protect the rights of completely innocent Americans."

"He is the president, not a king," Feingold said.

The president spoke not long after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Congress had given Bush authority to spy on suspected terrorists in this country in legislation passed after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bush and other officials have said the program involved monitoring phone calls and e-mails of individuals in this country believed to be plotting with terrorists overseas.

Normally, no wiretapping is permitted in the United States without a court warrant. But Bush said he approved the action without such orders "because it enables us to move faster and quicker. We've got to be fast on our feet.

Domestic issues were scarcely mentioned during the news conference.

But at one point, Bush responded to criticism of his record on racial issues, exacerbated by the images of thousands of blacks stranded in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

"One of the most hurtful things I can hear is, you know, Bush doesn't care about African-Americans," he said. "First of all, it's not true. And secondly, I am — I believe that — obviously, I've got to do a better job of communicating, I guess, to certain folks."

He urged Congress to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, intended to prevent discrimination against minorities, and promised to sign it.

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