Senate blocks extension of Patriot Act provisions

Erin Kelly | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption NSA wiretaps in jeopardy if Senate doesn't act The Senate is locked in a battle on how to modify the NSA's sweeping phone record collection program. AP Intelligence Writer Ken Dilanian breaks down the debate. (May 22)

WASHINGTON - Three key sections of the Patriot Act are set to expire on June 1 unless the Senate resolves a stalemate with the House over the future of the sweeping anti-terrorism law.

The Senate early Saturday blocked a bill that would have extended the provisions for another two months, leaving the leadership in a tough spot as the deadline loomed and Congress prepared to take a week-long recess for the Memorial Day holiday.

The bill failed on a procedural vote, not garnering the required 60-vote threshold to move forward.

Afterward, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., repeatedly tried to push forward shorter extensions that would allow the bill to expire later in June, but Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., led the objections to that effort.

McConnell then said he would reconvene the Senate on May 31, just hours before the expiration, in hopes that lawmakers would come to an agreement.

"We need to act responsibly on behalf of the American people," he said on the floor.

McConnell ran down the clock this month, hoping to persuade senators to renew the Patriot Act as it is rather than risk the law's expiration. He opposes any changes that could weaken the government's surveillance powers at a time when the nation is being threatened by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups.

But Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans pushed back, arguing that the existing law violates Americans' privacy rights and has not been effective at catching terrorists. They called for the Senate to pass a House-approved bill that would rewrite Section 215 of the Patriot Act to end the National Security Agency's mass collection of phone records from millions of Americans not suspected of any terrorist activity. That bill, the USA Freedom Act, passed the House by a vote of 338-88 on May 13.

The House vote came just a week after a federal appeals court ruled that the NSA's bulk collection of phone data is illegal and is not what Congress intended when it passed the Patriot Act after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Lacking the support to advance a straight renewal of the Patriot Act, McConnell asked senators to approve a two-month extension of the law to give him more time to try to reach a compromise between security hawks and privacy rights advocates. He also agreed to allow a vote on the USA Freedom Act, a measure President Obama supports.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest would not say Thursday whether the president would sign a short-term extension. He called on the Senate to approve the House-passed bill.

"If the Senate fails to pass the USA Freedom Act before leaving for the Memorial Day break, it risks allowing critical national security authorities to expire," he said. "If some Senate Republicans believe, as the president does, that we must be vigilant in the face of terrorist threats, it would be irresponsible to let these authorities lapse, even for a few days."

The NSA has been using Section 215 of the Patriot Act as the basis for the bulk collection of phone metadata, which includes information about what phone numbers Americans call, when those calls are made, and how long the calls last. The data does not include the actual substance of the calls.

The NSA program was revealed in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has been charged by U.S. authorities with violations of the Espionage Act and is living in Russia.

While Section 215 of the Patriot Act has been the focus of most congressional debate, there are two other sections set to expire on June 1. The "lone wolf" provision allows government surveillance of suspected terrorists who are acting on their own and are not affiliated with any foreign government or organized group. A separate "roving wiretap" provision allows federal agents to target individuals rather than electronic devices so that they can keep track of suspected terrorists who use lots of disposal cell phones in an attempt to evade law enforcement.

Contrbuting: Jessica Estepa