U.S. judge rules against government's eavesdropping program

A U.S. federal judge in Detroit on Thursday ordered a halt to the U.S. government's wiretapping without a warrantprogram.

In becoming the first judge to rule against the wiretapping, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor called the National Security Agency's program unconstitutional.

She ruled the wiretapping program violated the rights of free speech and privacy.

"Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution," Taylor wrote in her 43-page ruling.

However, White House spokesman Tony Snow said the Terrorist Surveillance Program takes good measures to protect civil liberties and is grounded in law.

"United States intelligence officials have confirmed that the program has helped stop terrorist attacks and saved American lives," he said. "The program is carefully administered and only targets international phone calls coming into or out of the United States where one of the parties on the call is a suspected al-Qaeda or affiliated terrorist."

A hearing on the motion is set for Sept. 7, Snow said.

The judge ruled on a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers, who claimed the eavesdropping program made their jobs tougher.

The program involved the U.S. government listening to conversations between people in the U.S. and other countries.

The U.S. government said it was within the president's powers to order the eavesdropping, but argued that proving its point would require disclosure of national secrets.

The Justice Department immediately appealed the ruling and said the surveillance program was a necessary tool for the intelligence community.

"In the ongoing conflict with al-Qaeda and its allies, the president has the primary duty under the Constitution to protect the American people," the department said in a statement.

"The Constitution gives the president the full authority necessary to carry out that solemn duty, and we believe the program is lawful and protects civil liberties."

ACLU executive director Anthony Romero applauded the decision, saying the decision was "another nail in the coffin in the Bush administration's legal strategy in the war on terror."

"At its core, today's ruling addresses the abuse of presidential power and reaffirms the system of checks and balances that's necessary to our democracy," Romero told reporters after the decision was handed down.