Does anyone really believe the programs will cease merely because they are no longer authorized by law?  Really?
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration warned Friday that a bundle of terror-fighting surveillance tools will expire at midnight Sunday unless Congress acts to renew Patriot Act provisions — putting pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to break the impasse over the issue.
The Senate deadlocked last weekend on a string of proposals meant to keep the provisions running past the end-of-the-month deadline. McConnell is calling the Senate back into session on Sunday, “to make every effort to provide the intelligence community with the tools it needs to combat terror,” spokesman Don Stewart said Friday.
But that session leaves just hours until the deadline, and it’s not clear whether any solution is in reach.  (read more)