President Bush said Saturday he personally has authorized secret eavesdropping programs in the U.S. more than 30 times since the Sept. 11 attacks and he lashed out at those involved in publicly revealing the program.
“This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security,” he said in a radio address delivered live from the White House's Roosevelt Room.
Angry members of Congress have demanded an explanation of the program, first revealed in Friday's New York Times. They also want to know if the monitoring by the National Security Agency violates civil liberties.
"There is no doubt that this is inappropriate," Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, declared Friday. He promised hearings early next year.
