The Obama administration calls the NSA's practice of gathering phone records "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats," reports the AP and Reuters.
The White House is defending the decision to collect the telephone records of U.S. citizens by labeling it an anti-terrorist measure.

The move by the National Security Agency to gather the phone records of Verizon customers was revealed on Wednesday by U.K. newspaper The Guardian. A court's top-secret order forced Verizon to hand over information about domestic and overseas calls "on an ongoing daily basis."

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