Bush and the NSA spy report

Bush said in an interview that “we do not discuss ongoing intelligence operations to protect the country. And the reason why is that there’s an enemy that lurks, that would like to know exactly what we’re trying to do to stop them.

“I will make this point,” he continued. “That whatever I do to protect the American people — and I have an obligation to do so — that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties of the American people.”

The president spoke in an interview to be aired Friday evening on “The Newshour with Jim Lehrer.”

Asked about the story earlier Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House press secretary Scott McClellan also refused to confirm or deny that the super-secret NSA had spied on as many as 500 people at any given time since 2002.

Emails, calls monitored
The Times reported Friday that following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Bush authorized the NSA to monitor the international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of people inside the United States.