House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) claimed Thursday the National Security Agency's secret phone surveillance program helped thwart a "significant domestic terrorist attack."
The attack, Rogers told The Washington Post, would have struck the United States "within the last few years." Rogers did not share specifics because they are classified, though he added his committee is working to declassify the relevant reports.
If Rogers' claims are verified by declassified information, they will complicate the renewed debate over the appropriate balance between privacy and security. Civil liberties groups are furious the NSA has been snooping on Verizon business customers' metadata. Some lawmakers, however, argue the program is necessary for national security.
"It’s called protecting America," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "I think people want the homeland kept safe to the extent we can," she added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that he's "glad" the NSA was collecting Verizon business customers' phone records.
"I don't mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the government is going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States," he said on Fox News Channel.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), the Senate Intelligence Committee's ranking Republican, added weight to Rogers' claims by saying the NSA program "has proved meritorious because we have gathered significant information on bad guys, but only on bad guys, over the years."
Multiple lawmakers have confirmed that the NSA surveillance order published Wednesday by The Guardian represents a short renewal of a program that's operated continuously for the last seven years. The White House is calling the NSA program a "critical tool" and says no individual phone calls are being monitored.