GRAND RAPIDS, MI — There's no question now that the National Security Agency collects and contains a treasure trove of information on American citizens, but there are sharp divisions on how to marry privacy and potential security risks.

Former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra and journalist Glenn Greenwald, who broke news of the agency's activities through NSA leaker Edward Snowden, presented hardened ideologies that likely prevent any easily balanced solution.

The two argued Friday, Jan. 30, during a session moderated by Michigan Public Radio journalist Rick Pluta at the Michigan Press Association's winter conference at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

Related: Read what retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus thinks about the NSA, Snowden

Greenwald, joining the debate remotely via Skype, argued the NSA exists solely to infringe on citizens' civil liberties and privacy. If public officials truly knew it combated terrorism, perhaps they should provide evidence, he said.

Instead, documents given by Snowden and with tedious reporting shows a different motivation, Greenwald argued. More information in the coming year will prove it.

"What (Snowden) asked us to do was to vet these documents extremely carefully ... and that we avoid causing harm to innocent people," Greenwald said. "We're definitely less than 50 percent of the way through ... on the grounds that a healthy democracy has a right to know what the government is doing."

Hoekstra, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee from 2004 to 2007, said the release of classified information has been damaging to counterterrorism efforts.

If the country's intelligence techniques leak, what is to say our enemies won't also review the information, Hoekstra asked. He laughs at foreign governments who are shocked they've been spied on because they, too, gather information.

"Spying is a matter of fact," Hoekstra said. "The mistake that we made is that we had a NSA that did not put in the protections that it need to protect (it) ... they enabled someone like Edward Snowden to steal our documents and steal our national securities to the world."

The hour-long back-and-forth was marred with technical difficulties at times, preventing Greenwald either from hearing comments made in the room and the audience from understanding the journalist.

Greenwald said he doesn't live in fear of retaliation by those who think his work opens up opportunities to terrorists. In fact, he calls it an obligation to Snowden as his source and the American people who have a constitutional right to privacy.

U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, aims to curb the NSA's collection efforts by supporting a bill titled "The USA Freedom Act." It has garnered more than 125 cosponsors since its inception last fall.

Andrew Krietz covers breaking and general police/fire news for MLive | The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at akrietz@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.