US: US vice-president Dick Cheney yesterday resisted bipartisan appeals for changes in a hotly disputed warrantless eavesdropping programme, saying he believed "we have all the legal authority we need".
Democrats and some Republicans have urged the Bush administration to work with Congress to revise a law already on the books in order to end questions about whether the spy programme, initiated after the September 11th, 2001 attacks, was constitutional.
In an interview to air last night on PBS's Newshour, Mr Cheney was asked whether President Bush was willing to work with Congress to settle some of the legal questions about the spy programme. "We believe . . . that we have all the legal authority we need," Mr Cheney said.
He said Mr Bush had indicated he was willing to listen to ideas from the Congress and that members of Congress certainly had the right to suggest changes.
"We'd have to make a decision, as the administration, whether or not we think it would help and would enhance our capabilities," he said.
The secret National Security Agency programme was exposed in December by the New York Times. It monitors telephone calls and email exchanges between people in the United States and abroad when one party is suspected of links to al-Qaeda.
A 1978 law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, makes it illegal to spy on US citizens in the United States without the approval of a special security court.
Some senators have suggested changes in the law to bring it up to date with today's fast-paced world of high-speed communications such as mobile phones and email.
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Monday, Democrats and some Republicans challenged the assertion that Mr Bush had the authority to act under both the Constitution and a congressional resolution that authorised the use of US force against al-Qaeda three days after the September 11th attacks.
Mr Cheney said he was concerned that additional legislation on the issue would disclose the programme in a way that would possibly damage it.
"I think it's important for us if we're going to proceed legislatively to keep in mind that there's a price to be paid for that and it might well in fact do irreparable damage to our capacity to collect this information," he said.