Washington: US President Barack Obama has urged Congress to prevent key national security surveillance measures from lapsing on midnight Sunday, warning inaction could hamper counterterrorism efforts.
"I expect them to take action, and take action swiftly," Obama said Friday, ahead of a deadline for the Senate to act.
If lawmakers do not take action, the National Security Agency will lose controversial access to data caught in a vast telephone dragnet, and terror prosecutors will see their ability to launch roving wiretaps curbed.
"I don`t want us to be in a situation in which for a certain period of time those authorities go away, and suddenly we`re dark," Obama said.
"Heaven forbid we`ve got a problem where we could have prevented a terrorist attack or apprehended someone who is engaged in dangerous activity, but we didn`t do so simply because of inaction in the Senate."
