After scheduled remarks on the new health care law, President Obama tried to reassure Americans that the NSA's massive collection of private phone records is not an intrusion on constitutional rights. He said he was initially skeptical of these programs, but has been convinced that they are crucial to preventing terror attacks.

"Nobody is listening to your phone calls," he declared, pointing out that the NSA is looking at "phone numbers and durations of calls" and are not looking at people's names.

VIRAL: Valedictorian Defies School by Reciting Lord's Prayer

He said if authorities want to be able to listen to a call, they have to go to a federal judge just like in any criminal investigation. The president said there's been a lot of "hype" over the last day about the data mining, but said these classified programs are overseen by Congress and federal judges on the FISA court.

"If people can't trust not only the executive branch, but also don't trust Congress and don't trust federal judges to make sure we're abiding by the Constitution and due process and rule of law, then we're gonna have some problems," he said.

He promised that U.S. citizens or people living in the United States are not subject to the NSA's monitoring of emails or internet use.

O'Reilly to Megyn Kelly: Why Couldn't Obama Use NSA to Go After GOP!?

"You can't have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience. We're going to have to make some choices as a society," said Obama. He called it "interesting" that many on the left and right are now raising this issue, noting that many on the right did not bring this up when President Bush was doing the same thing.

Obama said he wants to have a national debate on how to strike a balance between keeping Americans safe and protecting privacy.

WATCH: Republican Chokes Up in Hearing Over Wasteful IRS Spending

Watch the remarks below, and also check out video of Obama's statements from when he was a U.S. senator, and criticized the Bush administration for using these tactics.

Part 2

Part 3

Statements from then-Senator Obama

Napolitano, Shep Rail Against NSA: 'Slippery Slope Covered in Grease'

'This Is America!' Enraged Mark Levin Goes After Obama Admin