Senate report concludes: no proof of contact between

[kandrathe]

...
Most certainly. Within the letter of the law? If you do some arm-twisting, possible. Within the spirit of the law? Hardly. Now, you may say that various civil liberties that we have taken for granted, which are meant to be protected by the law, are not part of the spirit of it... In which case, that's your opinion.

I'm also sure that you're able to point out a few couple of hundred historical precendents of presidents paying no heed to the spirit of the law, emergency powers, and the like, but once again, the War on Terror, and the abuses of civil liberties associated with it, are a different ballpark.

When you work in a beauracracy there is the "right" way, and the "way it works" which are seldom the same. I view the system in a larger context, and over a longer span of time. The checks and balances are in place, and Presidential power over time has been mostly used appropriately. But, set the way back machine to WWII, and consider the way that American citizens and resident aliens were treated (link). I can only hope we are being more sensible and humane this time.