Bush Wiretap Program Gets Extra Week

The federal judge who struck down President Bush's warrantless surveillance program allowed the government on Thursday to continue the program another week while it seeks a further postponement from an appeals court.

U.S. Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled on Aug. 17 that the program, which targets communications between people in the United States and people overseas when a link to terrorism is suspected, violates the rights to free speech and privacy, as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

The White House says the surveillance is a key tool in the fight against terrorism that already has helped prevent attacks.

The Justice Department asked Taylor to allow the program to continue until the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issues a final ruling on the legal issues, which could take months. Taylor denied the administration's request, reports CBS News producer Beverley Lumpkin.

However, Taylor gave the government a seven-day reprieve while it seeks a stay from the appeals court pending a decision on the legality of the surveillance, which the government calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program.

The American Civil Liberties Union brought the suit in Detroit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs because they believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets.

Many of them said they had been forced to take expensive and time-consuming overseas trips because their contacts were no longer willing to speak openly on the phone, or because it would be unethical to ask them to do so when the confidentiality of those conversations could not be guaranteed.