Vi Reuters: Judge may decide if eavesdropping is legal

The National Security Agency’s domestic spying program faces its first legal challenge in a case that could decide if the White House is allowed to order eavesdropping without a court order.

Oral arguments are set for Monday at U.S. District Court in Detroit at which the American Civil Liberties Union will ask Judge Anna Diggs Taylor to declare the spying unconstitutional and order it halted.

The case goes to the heart of the larger national debate about whether President Bush has assumed too much power in his declared war on terrorism.

The first question will be: will this judge punt? The second: how much will such a case actually open up a road for real oversight?