In Washington, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and defended the Bush administration’s decision to carry out warrant-less domestic eavesdropping. Gonzales insisted the program was legal and necessary and that mostly only Americans calling associates of Al Qaeda have been affected. But Republican and Democratic Senators raised numerous concerns over the surveillance. When asked why the president never went to Congress, Gonzales said “The short answer is that we didn’t think we needed to, quite frankly.” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham responded by saying “In all honesty, Mr. Attorney General the argument that you’re making is very dangerous.” This is Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy: “The president and the Justice Department have a constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws. They do not write the laws. They do not pass the laws. They do not have unchecked powers to decide what laws to follow. And they certainly don’t have the power to decide what laws to ignore. They cannot violate the laws and the rights of ordinary Americans. Mr. Attorney General, in America, our America, nobody is above the law, not even the president of the United States.”