The Obama administration has defended the practice.

The Obama administration on Thursday defended the secret surveillance of US citizens' phone calls, claiming the practice "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats."

A secret intelligence court in the United States had ordered the telecommunications company Verizon to provide the National Security Agency (NSA) with the phone records of millions of Americans, according to a report published on the Guardian's website.

The Guardian obtained and published the top secret court order, which compelled Verizon to open its customers' phone records to the NSA on an "ongoing, daily basis." The order, issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (Fisa) on April 25, covers calls both within the US and between the US and other countries.

This is while US citizens believe that the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue.

The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, was written to guarantee what is called "the right to be let alone," and what we have come to call "the right to privacy."

Thursday morning, the American people awoke to learn of the most monumental, gargantuan violation of American values in US history.

According to published reports, that the Obama Department of Justice has nearly half of all adult Americans in its cross hairs.

Since at least April 25th of this year, every one of those calls had the names of the callers and all persons on the calls, their telephone numbers, their locations, and the length of the calls identified and sent directly to the National Security Agency--America's domestic spies--on a daily and an on-going basis.