"This conduct is right in the strike zone of the concept of high crimes and misdemeanors," said Feingold, D-Wis.

What the President did by consciously and intentionally violating the constitutional laws of this country with this illegal wiretapping has to be answered. There can be debate about whether the law should be changed. There can be debate about how best to fight terrorism. We all believe that there should be wiretapping in appropriate cases. But the idea that the president can just make up a law in violation of his oath of office has to be answered.

He said President Bush had, "openly and almost thumbing his nose at the American people," continued the NSA domestic wiretap program. President Bush has long asserted that the so-called 'warrantless wiretaps' are an essential tool in the war on terror.