And in doing so, he used the unusual approach of taking on the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program.

Now, the revelation of the eavesdropping program has renewed the criticism.

But, he said, when briefed by the administration about the eavesdropping program in 2002, "I and others expressed concern."

In the case of the eavesdropping program, the administration continues to maintain that it is free to operate without court approval.

But by the time of the commission's report in July 2004, the eavesdropping program had been operating for roughly two years.

Several challenges have been lodged in civil and criminal cases over the eavesdropping program.

The full details of the new approach to the domestic eavesdropping program have not been publicly disclosed.

It is not clear how much the members of Congress were told about the presidential order and the eavesdropping program.

The Bush administration has not cited any of those exemptions for the domestic eavesdropping program.

A federal judge in Detroit declared the eavesdropping program to be illegal and unconstitutional.