A liberal legal scholar - Cass Sunstein - believes not only that the authorization for the use of force against Iraq enhanced the president's authority, during time of war, to conduct NSA eavesdropping against Al Qaeda, but also the following, as discussed on Hugh Hewitt's radio show yesterday:

"...Cass Sunstein also wrote today on his weblog, surveillance, including wiretapping, is reasonably believed to be an incident to the use of force. It standardly occurs during war. If the president's wiretapping has been limited to those reasonably believed to be associated with al Qaeda and its affiliates, as indeed he has said."

That's the key that Democrats/The Left fail to appreciate: That the president historically, in time of war, indeed has the power to conduct this type of surveillance if it is limited to ferreting out the enemy. I know it's a stretch to expect the Democrats to attempt to comprehend this fundamental principle, but one can always hope.