Federal judge says NSA phone surveillance is legal; ACLU responds

Today, a federal judge in New York ruled that the National Security Agency's phone surveillance program is lawful.

The suit had been brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) after the mass spying program was revealed via NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Jameel Jaffer, the ACLU's deputy legal director, issued the following statement in response to today's ruling:

"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relevant statutes, understates the privacy implications of the government's surveillance, and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections.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 ACLU plans to appeal the decision. Stay tuned.