Whether or not it's decided that Bush's NSA wiretapping program is legal, Clinton did the same thing, but not to fight terrorism. He did it for industrial espionage purposes against European countries. The Echelon project was transformed by Clinton into a project which, among other things, spied on American citizens working for European companies. Ths is not nearly as good a reason for spying on American citizens than the one Bush has given, which is to prevent terrorists from creating terror. Here's the sort of situation in which the current administration would tap someone's communications. Let's say there's some guy who spent a year in Suadi Arabi, now lives in California, has suspected ties to terror groups, and makes frequent phone calls to a number in Saudi Arabia suspected to be owned by terrorists. The Democrats would say that it's totally illegal to listen to that man's calls, but a realist would say that it would be criminally negligent not to try to figure out what the guy's deal is. You if they don't listen in and investigate further and that man is alter involved in murdering Americans, Bush would get fried for having suspicions and not acting on them. With the Democrats there is nothing Bush can possibly do that could be right. On the other hand, if Clinton did the exact same thing, it was ok for him.