Patriot Act's NSA surveillance authority expires at midnight Sunday

Late Sunday, the Senate adjourned after agreeing to vote on (and likely pass) the USA Freedom Act already approved in the House, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked immediate action on the legislation for a few days. That means controversial espionage provisions authorized by the USA Patriot Act, allowing bulk National Security Agency collection of U.S. phone metadata, will expire at midnight on Sunday.

The USA Freedom Act, if approved, will reauthorize the bulk metadata collection program with some changes, backed by a large majority of the House and the White House, that will have private phone companies rather than the NSA store the records; NSA analysts will have to get a warrant to access the data. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) strongly opposed those changes, and his refusal to allow a vote on the House bill allowed Paul to force the temporary expiration of the NSA powers.

Along with the bulk phone records provision, two others are expiring until the Senate votes: One that helps track "lone wolf" suspects and another that allows eavesdropping on suspects who frequently discard cell phones. The House bill reauthorizes those two with no changes; Paul blocked McConnell's bid to extend the two lesser-known, less-controversial measures. The Senate is expected to pass the USA Freedom Act on Tuesday.

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