But this presidency also believes in the unitary executive theory of executive power. From that perspective, this bill wouldn't limit the powers of the president to direct domestic surveillance however he sees fit, it would only limit the types of surveillance activities that as a practical matter are directed in the first instance by the DoJ as part of their delegated powers for general law enforcement activities and restrained by the FISA court process.
In other words, all it would do is prevent the type of activities that Trump finds personally threatening, without restraining him at all.
Of course, all of this assumes that Trump actually thinks strategically and analytically. But all the evidence is to the contrary. Even conservative, pro-Trump supporters describe him euphemistically as a "transactional" president.
> In other words, all it would do is prevent the type of activities that Trump finds personally threatening, without restraining him at all.
In other words, the president wants a check on the amount of power the executive branch can exercise. That is all I said. The sorts of activities it would prevent is irrelevant. If the set of activities allowed in the president's desired bill is a subset of those allowed previously, my statement would be true.
In other words, all it would do is prevent the type of activities that Trump finds personally threatening, without restraining him at all.
Of course, all of this assumes that Trump actually thinks strategically and analytically. But all the evidence is to the contrary. Even conservative, pro-Trump supporters describe him euphemistically as a "transactional" president.