Or is the problem that the only check on NSA's surveillance is a glorified review board, instead of comprehensive system of laws?
How much safer would you feel if the Chief Justice was a Democratic appointee, and selected only Democratic appointees to the FISC?
The legislative branch have chosen to willfully turn their eyes away on this...
The judicial branch has already provided tacit approval since the chief justice of the supreme court is to a large degree cosigning the constitutionality of this...
The people have decided that this is acceptable...
so its not really an 'issue', for me its like GWB, I didnt like him as a president but I had to aknowledge he was legitimately the president by the mandate of the people and in line with all required bureaucratic processes... similarly to how some feel about Obama...
and no its not that he is republican or not, i mean i think its become clear Obama has embraced these kind of grey area morally questionable but politically palatable solutions to a greater extent than GWB did. Its not political with me, its just from my perspective clear that sooner or later it will be abused, and it is such a potential seachange i doubt we will ever roll it back.
On a pragmatic level however: Congress has already signed off or rather abdicated responsibility (I think for purposes of plausible deniability) of the FISA courts to Justice Roberts. Meanwhile as he is in a nutshell controlling the appointees and as such general direction of the program, while at the same time leading the majority of the one court that technically has the ability to overturn the program on constitutional grounds...
Pretty much congress has abstained and he is in effect the check and balance on himself, which is troubling.
The thing about the NSA scandal isn't really the lack of checks and balances though, every branch has had an oppurtunity to strike down this program, and the people themselves have been given enough information to rise up... its just that the vast majority of executives, judiciary, legislative, and the citizenry just don't have a problem with it, and think its a necessary trade off.