IS THE PATRIOT ACT CONSTITUTIONAL?

Is the United States Patriot Act Constitutional? This is a question that has been asked since it's introduction by George W. Bush in October of 2001. Shortly after the "attacks" of 9/11 President Bush pushed Congress and the public into believing that the USA Patriot Act would increase much needed terrorist security in the U.S. Were there alterior motives involved in passing this act? Very likely, especially when you consider the allegations that certain agencies including the FBI have taken it too far, and used the provisions of the Patriot Act unconstitutionally. In essence what the Patriot Act did was allow law enforcement agencies to access our telephone, e-mail conversations, medical, financial, and other records. Are you kidding me? Why would the general public allow this to happen? Obviously it was a way for the ever watching eye of the government to increase it's ability to spy on our everyday activities. To me it seems plausible that the U.S. staged the attacks of 9/11 as terrorist acts, in order to create a sense of urgency to allow these kinds of acts to pass unscathed. The interesting part is that the act is actually an acronym for, "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001," so obviously their intention was to be able to find terrorists more easily. Or was it? According to various Federal Judges around the country, it is a breach of the Constitution, and it's abilities to spy on the average citizen are being misused by different government agencies. This video aired on CNN...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qujCIGplnyk . That Federal Judge mentioned in the clip that it was a breach of the fourth amendment, which is, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Other parts of the government have found discrepencies in the Patriot Act. For instance in March 9, 2007 a Justice Department audit found that the FBI "improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA PATRIOT Act to secretly obtain personal information about United States citizens." Is our government abusing the rights given within the USA Patriot Act? I definitely think so. I found another video on the Anderson 360 show on CNN, where he asked Andrew Sullivan what he thinks of the Patriot Act...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYhYQDTtM2c . Andrew Sullivan brings up some very good points in this interview, namely, that this act gives one person (the President) the right to decide who is going to be detaineed, and who will be subject to torture. But according to Bush waterboarding is not torture. Many would disagree, including myself. Why is the government willing to put our rights in the gutter in order for them to have access to every single aspect of our lives? Because we let them!