A federal judge has denied the government’s request to delay what could turn out to be a major landmark case (ACLU v. Clapper) on the legality of the National Security Agency's (NSA) mass metadata collection program. In a complaint filed last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asked a judge to declare Verizon’s ongoing metadata collection and sharing to the NSA unconstitutional.

At a hearing in a New York federal district courtroom Thursday, Judge William Pauley dismissed the Obama Administration’s request to push back a hearing date so that the government could have more time to search through its trove of classified material to determine what could be disclosed.

According to The Guardian, the judge rebuffed that request, setting a deadline for motions by August 26, with oral arguments in the case to begin on November 1.

"We are arguing that the program is not authorized by statute and, even if it was, it is unconstitutional,” said Jameel Jaffer, an ACLU lawyer, as The Guardian reported.

In the government’s most recent filing (PDF) to the judge, dated July 18, 2013, government lawyers reiterated again the “limited nature” of the metadata collection program: