Obama Administration Defends Its Right Take All Your Phone Records

In its first semi-official comment from the White House about The Guardian's Verizon/NSA phone-snooping scoop, the administration didn't admit to collecting the telephone records of millions of Americans. But they didn't say they wouldn't do that either. An anonymous "senior administration official" would not confirm that the newspaper story was true or that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order was legitimate  but they did tell media outlets on Thursday that the requests are "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats."

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The order in question, which was issued in April, compelled Verizon to give the National Secuirty Agency information on all phone calls that were routed through its network over a period of three months. The classified order was published in The Guardian on Wednesday, and though it doesn't mention any other telephone companies, it's possible that similar orders were issued to them as well.

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The same administration official also reiterated to the AP that while the information collected includes phone numbers, location data, and call times, it doesn't include the contents of any phone conversation. 

NBC News's Chuck Todd also reported that administration official (presumably the same person) told him that "all branches of government are aware" when orders like this are issued, implying that members of Congress, as well as the President, were likely briefed on the matter when it happened. We'll have to see if President Obama comes forward to discuss this soon, but it looks the government's defense is going to take the usual path when it comes to Patriot Act-style suveillance: This is normal behavior, it's for our own safety, and there's nothing to see here.