Like TIME on Facebook for more breaking news and current events from around the globe!

The U.S. Supreme Court will not intervene to stop the National Security Agency’s domestic telephone surveillance program — for now.

The justices turned away an appeal from a privacy group without comment on Monday, declining to review the group’s assertion that the FISA court, the secret federal court that oversees NSA activities, illegally authorized domestic surveillance programs, CNN reports. In an unusual step, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed its appeal directly with the high court, arguing the “exceptional ramifications” of the NSA’s activities warranted immediate supreme court review.

Mass surveillance programs in the United States have come under growing scrutiny since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked a trove of documents revealing vast and secret monitoring of Americans’ communications.

[CNN]