FISA does not provide very many provisions limiting the use of these powers. Joshua L. Dratel recently filed a brief refuting attorney general John Ashcroft's actions. He stated that "When you start expanding authority like this to where there's no standards, all you increase are the number of innocent people who are surveilled unnecessarily." Because the targets of the warrants do not know they are being spied upon, they have no legal recourse to prevent it. Opponents to FISA argue that Attorney General Ashcroft has just suspended the fourth amendment by making it legal for the government to listen in on phone calls, read e-mail, and conduct secret searches of citizens" homes. Ann Beeson of the American Civil Liberties Union stated she was "deeply disappointed" because the act has turned the intelligence court into a "rubber stamp" for intrusive surveillance warrants.( Broad U.S. Wiretap Powers Upheld) Opponents also worry about abuse of the new act, citing the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has already mislead the intelligence court on seventy-five different occasions.( Broad U.S. Wiretap Powers Upheld) The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court itself issued a statement saying that attorney general John Ashcroft's proposals "were not reasonably designed to safeguard the privacy rights of us citizens." (Broad U.S. Wiretap Powers Upheld).
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was only one of many safeguards against terrorist attacks that President George Bush's administration is attempting to establish. Recently there has been doubt in the FBI's ability to handle the task of counterterrorism. So far, the FBI has been unsuccessful at reorganizing itself from a law enforcement agency into a counterterrorism unit, able to undermine terrorist plans. The FBI has found difficulties in retraining its agents, who are accustomed to the past restrictions of domestic spying. (Bush Aides Consider Domestic Spy Agency) Several outside intelligence experts, as well as blue ribbon panels have recommended a serious overhaul to the United State's domestic intelligence structure.
