Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is currently deciding whether to make a presidential bid, spoke in favor of the Patriot Act Wednesday morning in an interview on Fox & Friends.
Parts of the Patriot Act, included the portion related to NSA phone collections, expired at midnight Sunday, and was just been replaced by the Freedom Act in a late-night vote Tuesday.
“I think we would be much better off if we fully reauthorized the Patriot Act,” he said.
“It’s not about eavesdropping… It’s a matter of collecting the data and accessing it under a very legal constitutional process, only when we’ve got clear evidence that someone is connected with an enemy combatant,” Walker continued.
He was asked whether he thought the Freedom Act was a step back.
“Well a step back would be doing nothing. So I certainly prefer this over nothing.”
Walker also views the expiration of the Patriot Act as a failure on the president’s part to protect the American people from potential terrorist attacks.
“…Going forward, it’s another example of the failure of this president to lead. This is an example where the president could lead — could have used the bully pulpit to tell the American people how important it is to make sure we have the information to prevent another terrorist attack out there, and this is one of the many tools we need to do that. I hope in the future we reestablish the Patriot Act.”
