ProPublica has published an analysis of the four most often cited rationales offered to justify mass surveillance and collection of metadata, describing why they are “questionable claims.”
It is instructive reading for anyone who is concerned about claims that security cannot be achieved without sacrificing constitutional principles.
Whatever the right answer to that dilemma, official dissembling does little to advance either goal, or to justify public confidence that the government’s decisions are defensible.
ProPublica: Four Questionable Claims Obama Has Made on NSA Surveillance