NSA's huge cell phone eavesdropping operation is unconstitutional, rules federal judge in victory for exiled leaker Snowden



Lawsuit argued it was illegal for the NSA to collect the phone records of a conservative lawyer and his client

District Court judge Richard Leon ruled in their favor, said the NSA has to stop collecting their records

Wrote that he 'could not imagine a more "indiscriminate" and "arbitrary invasion"' of privacy

Cited the Fourth Amendment which protects Americans against unlawful searches and seizures



The controversial surveillance program created by the NSA to collect records of any phone calls made to or from the United States was today deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon announced on Monday that the extensive spying program likely breaks the Fourth Amendment, which is the right that protects Americans against unlawful searches and seizures.



The ruling is a boost for exiled Edward Snowden who exposed details of the NSA's huge data collection program to the public earlier this year, and is now exiled in Russia.



Big brother: The NSA was revealed to be keeping track of phone calls made or received by Americans both abroad and overseas

Politico broke the news that the judge's ruling came in conjunction with a lawsuit brought to the court by a conservative legal activist, Larry Klayman, and his client who are both Verizon users unhappy about having their records stored by the National Security Agency.

The judge has ordered a preliminary injunction stopping the NSA from collecting Mr Klayman's and his client's information, though the ruling could reasonably be pushed to include any such individuals.

'Plaintiffs have a very significant expectation of privacy in an aggregated collection of their telephone metadata covering the last five years, and the NSA’s Bulk Telephony Metadata Program significantly intrudes on that expectation,' Justice Leon wrote in his brief.

'I have significant doubts about the efficacy of the metadata collection program as a means of conducting time-sensitive investigations in cases involving imminent threats of terrorism.

'I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying it and analyzing it without judicial approval.'

Indefensible: Just last week, NSA director General Keith Alexander testified on Capitol Hill about how important the program was to keeping the nation safe against terrorist attacks

Judge Leon was appointed to the court by former President George W. Bush who put some of the most wide-reaching surveillance protocols into place, which in turn adds some bipartisan weight behind the ruling.

The ruling comes after a continued public debate over the inherently private tactics of the nation's top spy agency.



Man behind the news: The NSA's practices have been questioned since Edward Snowden released the files in June

The news about the phone collection program was initially revealed by leaker Edward Snowden, who collected files about the NSA himself while working as a consultant for the agency. He is now living in Russia and refuses to return to the US for fear of prosecution.

Agency representatives have repeatedly stood by the program since it was unveiled, including director General Keith Alexander who was quizzed about it on Capitol Hill last week.



General Alexander said in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday that the number of global threats are growing - specifically in Iraq and Syria - and they pose what he called 'an unacceptable risk' to America.



'There is no other way that we know of to connect the dots... Taking these programs off the table is absolutely not the thing to do.'



Alexander acknowledged the privacy concerns that have dogged the NSA since Snowden's document release and submitted that the NSA is now open to talking to technology companies for a better solution without compromising security.



'It's like holding onto a hornet's nest. We’re getting stung,' Alexander said.

