Phone Records Foiled Attack, Says Lawmaker

Mike Rogers has one-upped his colleagues on Capitol Hill in defending the NSA's use of phone records from Verizon. The chairman of the House intelligence panel says the strategy is not only legal but has foiled at least one terror attack, reports the Hill. Rogers did not provide details, adding that he was working on getting them declassifed. “Within the last few years, this program was used to stop a terrorist attack in the United States,” said the Republican.

"We know that. It’s important. It fills in a little seam that we have, and it’s used to make sure that there is not an international nexus to any terrorism event that they may believe is ongoing in the United States.” As the debate continues on whether the administration went too far, a White House spokesman said President Obama "welcomes the discussion of the trade-off between security and civil liberties," reports Politico. “The close examination of some of these complicated issues could cause people to arrive at differing opinions." (More NSA stories.)