Justice (sic) Department Threatens Congress

This happened while Senator Rand Paul spoke out against renewal of the Patriot (sic) Act:

As Paul made his case, a Justice Department memo circulated on Capitol Hill warning lawmakers that the NSA will have to begin winding down its bulk collection of Americans' phone records by the end of the week if Congress fails to reauthorize the Patriot Act.

"After May 22, 2015, the National Security Agency will need to begin taking steps to wind down the bulk telephone metadata program in anticipation of a possible sunset in order to ensure that it does not engage in any unauthorized collection or use of the metadata," the department said.

If Congress fails to act, several key provisions of the law would expire, including the bulk collection; a provision allowing so-called roving wiretaps, which the FBI uses for criminals who frequently switch cellphones; and a third that makes it easier to obtain a warrant to target a "lone wolf" terror suspect who has no provable links to a terrorist organization.

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NSA_SURVEILLANCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-20-15-08-36

"Easier to obtain a warrant to target a suspect who has no provable links to a terrorist organization"?

In plain language, that means the following provision of the US Constitution is no longer in effect:

Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

[emphasis added]

The Patriot (sic) Act "authorizes" unconstitutional warrants, and the President and his minions request and serve those warrants. The courts (including SCOTUS) do nothing to stop them.

WTF kind of government do we now have?

Tyranny is defined as:

• cruel and unfair treatment by people with power over others
• a government in which all power belongs to one person : the rule or authority of a tyrant

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tyranny

Do we now live under tyranny? Perhaps not yet, but we sure as hell no longer have a constitutional republic. We have a "national security / homeland security state" in which just about any principle of law or morality can be disregarded in the name of "security" (whatever that means).