Heightened Islamic State threat requires surveillance action: U.S. official

[May 28, 2015]  By Julia Edwards
 
 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The threat of Islamic State to the national security of the United States has heightened in the last two weeks, making it critical for Congress to renew surveillance authority, a senior U.S. administration official said on Wednesday.

The law authorizing the U.S. government to conduct domestic surveillance searches through a court approval process is due to expire if Congress does not pass an extension by Sunday.

The Senate so far has been unable to pass legislation despite overwhelming support in the House of Representatives for a bill that amends the current program with much more limited powers to collect information.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called for the Senate to meet at 4 p.m. EDT on Sunday, but it is not clear whether there will be enough support to pass any legislation before the law's expiration.

Another U.S. administration official said it will take time for the government to instruct phone companies to shut down or reboot data storage capabilities.

The federal government will begin instructing phone companies on how to stop collecting data by 4 p.m. EDT on Sunday and the instructions would be irreversible by 8 p.m. EDT. If a lapse occurs, it is expected to take 24 hours after the passage of new surveillance powers by Congress for the program to resume, the official said.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards; Editing by Sandra Maler, Rick Cowan and Eric Walsh)

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.