The second decision, saying it is legal, comes from US District Judge William H Pauley III in Manhattan. He said in his opinion: 'While robust discussions are underway across the nation, in Congress, and at the White House, the question for this court is whether the government’s bulk telephony program is lawful.  This court finds it is.'

Extremely disappointed

Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said: 'We are extremely disappointed with this decision, which misinterprets the relevant statutes, understates the privacy implications of the government’s surveillance and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections. As another federal judge and the president’s own review group concluded last week, the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of telephony data constitutes a serious invasion of Americans’ privacy.' The other judge - giving the contrary view - was US District Judge Richard Leon. Source: Bloomberg Law