The difference is cost. Pervasive and unhindered surveillance is way cheaper than coordinating an individual to be targeted through court orders and all the bureaucracy and potential legal battles that come with it. That’s why EU/UK is trying to coerce Apple to disable end to end encryption[1]. If it hadn’t made any difference, we wouldn’t be seeing any complaints from governments.
[1] https://techinformed.com/uk-government-orders-apple-to-hand-...