It is not often that the phrase “must-read article” is seen in this space, but The Atlantic’s Derek Khanna has provided an entirely suitable occasion for that appeal. Khanna’s article — entitled “If PRISM is good policy, why stop with terrorism” — is indeed worth reading by every American concerned about how this nation conducts the war on terrorism. Virginia’s James Madison — fourth president of the United States, chief intellectual architect behind the U.S. Constitution, and co-author with New York’s Alexander Hamilton of the Federalist Papers — would second Khanna’s fundamental point. And not only because Madison presciently spoke these words to the Virginia Ratifying Convention: “There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

Khanna prominently notes Madison’s warning in the Atlantic in making his case that the National Security Agency’s Prism surveillance program represents what the Virginian had in mind. Created in response to 9/11, Prism monitors billions of daily emails and cellphone calls produced by millions of Americans with no known connection to al Qaeda or any other terrorist group. The program also monitors the locations of these same Americans, whom they contact, how long they talk, and credit card transactions. The government, including President Obama, claims only the most minimal data is collected — just enough to detect suspicious activity — but all that is required to breach that firewall is the consent of a secret federal court.