Amash Amendment News Today

One of the key talking points from defenders of the NSA surveillance program is that they had to implement it after the 9/11 Commission revealed "holes" in information gathering that resulted in 9/11. This is a misstatement of what that report actually indicated -- in that it showed that more than enough data had actually…

At its core, the Amash amendment is probably unwise and possibly unconstitutional.

Joining me now ohio congressman jim jordan. great to see you, thank you so much for coming out. i know its been a busy one. you just voted. how did you vote? >> i voted against reauthorizing it because of what you just described. the idea that you can actually look at american content and material without a warrant is not how the fourth amendment is supposed to operate. if you are going to query anything, if you are going to search anything, you are supposed to get a probable cause warrant. that...

But no one should misinterpret that vote. that was on the amash amendment. i have serious concerns about whats going on at the nsa. i think obviously we need more oversight, as senator mccain said. but i think we need to change the underlying patriot act and the fisa amendments of 2008. i voted against the reauthorization of the so-called patriot act because i believed it was too loosely written, there was room for abuse. so i think we need to undertake lots of reforms. the amendment, i dont thi...

Facing, you know, this amendment through an appropriations fight, meaning a funding fight, rather than being able to create a new program that protects our liberties. >> these become a little bit -- a little more symbolic sometimes than the actual law itself. jared paulless, democrat, from colorado, one of the five bipartisan co-sponsors of the bill, thank you very much. lets go to the other side of this debate. the senate intelligence leaders. they released a joint statement condemning the amas...

Collection of telephone records. i had conversations with the speaker and he seems to have the full intent to work with me and work with us on this amendment process and try to get something to the floor. >> reporter: now aides to house speaker john boehner say he opposes the amash amendment because the speaker believes the nsa surveillance programs have saved american lives and kept the country safer. rick? rick: we mentioned at the top, mike, there are conservatives who are for this. there are...