This is mostly true but it also comes with self deception/naivety that the people in charge won't do harm to civilians.
Given evidence to the contrary they prefer to imagine it as a lie.
So it's not correct today that they condone anything the people in charge are doing for national security they repress the existence of the things they don't condone.
There's a lot of voters out there who are quite okay with the government doing what they think needs to be done to ensure national security.