WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- A leading Senate critic of warrantless surveillance warned the White House in Washington Thursday funding for the program could be in jeopardy.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told a news conference he had filed an amendment to a spending bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds for "domestic electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purpose" unless Congress is kept up to date on the operations.
Specter said President George W. Bush's electronic surveillance program is "of great importance to protect the country from terrorism," but he said there is no way to know if the surveillance is constitutional because the White House has refused to answer all his questions about the program.
"It is possible that the only way Congress can assert its constitutional prerogative is by exercise of power of purse," said Specter.
He said cutting off funding would be a drastic remedy that he was not prepared to support right now, but which "may become necessary."
Specter said the administration's argument -- that the president has the power to conduct warrantless surveillance under a resolution passed by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- was "totally without merit."
