The Judge considered that the incriminated data about the collecting activity certainly violated the 4th Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches. He expressed this clearly in the motivation of his decision: “I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposing of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval.”
The administration can appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and will do it. The White House permanently opposed large scale changes in the NSA and other intelligence agencies' activities.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy welcomed the decision of Judge Richard J. Leon. Among those who had reactions, Edward Snowden said again:
“I acted on my belief that the NSA’s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge and the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts.”
