Charlotte Observer | 12/20/2005 | Bush: I have power to order spying in U.S.

Charlotte Observer | 12/20/2005 | Bush: I have power to order spying in U.S.: "'The president's dead wrong. It's not a close question. Federal law is clear,' said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University and a specialist in surveillance law. 'When the president admits that he violated federal law, that raises serious constitutional questions of high crimes and misdemeanors.'

Few lawmakers have rallied to Bush's defense. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has promised a full investigation into the surveillance program early next year.

Two Democratic lawmakers who'd been briefed on the program well before it became public last week accused Bush and his advisers of withholding key details.

Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said they had objected to Bush's plan, but had no way to stop it without exposing classified information."