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Allegations that President George Bush authorised security agents to eavesdrop on people inside the US has caused a storm of protest, even from his allies.

Republican Senator John McCain called for an explanation, while Senator Arlen Specter, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, called it "inappropriate".

The New York Times says the National Security Agency was allowed to spy on hundreds of people without warrants.

Previously, surveillance in the US was generally limited to foreign embassies.

Story from :
BBC NEWS
Published: 2005/12/16 17:29:04 GMT

Guardian
Tuesday December 20, 2005 2:46 PM

ABOARD AIR FORCE II (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday vigorously defended the Bush administration's use of secret domestic spying and the expansion of presidential powers, saying ``it's not an accident that we haven't been hit in four years.''

Talking to reporters aboard his government plane as he flew from Islamabad, Pakistan to Muscat, Oman on an overseas mission, Cheney said he believes the power of the presidency has indeed contracted since the Vietnam and Watergate era.

He said he believes the American people support President Bush's terror-fighting strategy. ``If there's a backlash pending,'' because of reports of National Security Agency surveillance of calls originating within the United States, he said, ``I think the backlash is going to be against those who are suggesting somehow that we shouldn't take these steps to defend the country.''