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Durbin Praises Obama For NSA Scale Back

  Illinois' senior U.S. Senator says he supports President Barack Obama's changes for the National Security Agency.

President Obama has seen a split within his own party since Edward Snowden's revelations about how the U.S is gathering intelligence.

But at least one Democrat — Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin — says Obama is taking the right steps in balancing privacy with keeping America safe.

"It is rare, rare in the history of this country the President steps up and says 'I am willing to limit the powers of the presidency to protect constitutional rights,'" Durbin says. "And he did it."

Obama says the U.S. will no longer hold on to so-called "meta data" of phone calls. Obama also says the political leaders of Americas' allies will not be monitored without a compelling reason.

Amanda Vinicky moved to Chicago Tonight on WTTW-TV PBS in 2017.
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