"Make no mistake, NSA can and will perform its missions consistent with the Fourth Amendment and all applicable laws."

"But senior leadership must understand that today’s and tomorrow’s mission will demand a powerful, permanent presence on a global telecommunications network that will host the ‘protected’ communications of Americans as well as the targeted communications of adversaries."

National Security Agency memo from the Clinton era, highlighted at Politico under the headline "NSA memo pushed to 'rethink' 4th Amendment" and noting "The quotes around 'protected' appear in the original document." (I haven't read the memo, but the quotes around "protected" may have to do with the third party principle discussed here.)

Also at the Politico link:

The NSA has been a central player in U.S. cyber strategy since at least 1997, according to a separate declassified memo obtained by [George Washington University’s] National Security Archive. That document describes how the administration of President Bill Clinton assigned NSA with “Computer Network Attack” — “a natural companion to NSA’s exploit and protect functions,” the memo said.

But it wasn’t until later, after the infusion of billions of dollars and the new legal authorities that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, that NSA’s capabilities grew to the scale revealed this week.

I note the groundwork for the argument: Bill Clinton would have averted the 9/11 attacks. Also: Everything is Bush's fault. Before 9/11, he didn't do what Clinton told him to do. After 9/11, he did too much.