The U.S. intelligence community has been under scrutiny this year like never before. Leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden have shed light on the wide expanse of power the country's top spy agencies have both abroad and over their own citizens.
One Democratic Senator, Ron Wyden, has been fighting for years to get the NSA to open up about their domestic spying programs and he’s starting to gain momentum. Wyden has put forth a bill to put limits on the NSA's surveillance programs and to reform the court that oversees them.
California Democrat Dianne Feinstein has proposed her own competing bill that allows the programs and says the risks of terrorism outweigh privacy concerns. President Obama could be the deciding vote in this contentious issue about how widespread the NSA's powers should be.
But will he pick a side? Will the Snowden leaks provide the momentum to make changes in domestic spying laws? Do terrorism concerns take precedence over the right to privacy?
Guests:
Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent for The New Yorker
Cedric Leighton, founder and president of Cedric Leighton Associates, a risk and leadership management consultancy. He is also a retired colonel in the US Air Force and the former Director for Training of the National Security Agency.