http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/...legal-20150507

May 7, 2015 A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the National Security Agency's bulk collection of billions of U.S. phone records is illegal, dealing a startling blow to the program just as Congress is weighing reforms to the government's expansive surveillance authorities.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals deemed that dragnet collection of American call data does not constitute information relevant to terrorism investigations under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

The controversial program, exposed publicly nearly two years ago by Edward Snowden, "exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized," Judge Gerard Lynch wrote in his decision.