Letters to the Editor
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There's another issue nobody mentions
Very rarely does intelligence provide clear cut answers like: this group is going to attack this place on this day at this time with a force of this size. Intelligence usually provides hints, partial answers, and clues that are clear only in hindsight. The arguments one hears for all of this crap make it sound we need to start listening to this individual's phone calls in the next hour to avert some disaster.
No. Previously gathered hints, partial answers, and clues have led the intelligence agencies to this (or these) individual(s). And once they start listening to these conversations they will not get a clear cut answer; they will get more hints, partial answers, and clues. This additional information may, or may not, be enough for the intelligence officers to make sense out of the disconnected facts they have and pull the pieces together into a recognizable picture. So there's really very little real world justification for the argument that we can't afford the time to follow judicial procedures because otherwise some disaster will follow.