Mike McConnell(director of national intelligence) - A Law Terrorism Outran - washingtonpost.com: "The failure to update this law comes at an increasingly steep price. The congressional joint inquiry into the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks recognized that there were systemic problems with covering communications of potential terrorists.

As director of national intelligence, I see every day the results of FISA-authorized activity and its contribution to our efforts to protect America. This surveillance saves lives -- the lives of our children and grandchildren. I also see the flaws inherent in the current law.

Because the law has not been changed to reflect technological advancements, we are missing potentially valuable intelligence needed to protect America. We simply cannot predict how communications technology will change in the coming years, but these changes may widen the gap between the law and technology. We need to adopt that understanding into FISA -- a law that does not address today's global systems in today's terms.

In seeking to update the law, in response to bipartisan congressional requests, the intelligence community is keeping faith with the foundation of credibility and legitimacy in which the law was grounded. Just as Congress in 1978 could not have anticipated today's technology, we cannot know how technology will advance in the next 30 years. Our job is to make the country as safe as possible by providing the highest possible quality intelligence available. We should not tie the nation's security to a snapshot of outdated technology."

(Read Original Article - Via washingtonpost.com .)