Congress and Courts Weigh Restraints on NSA Spying

Congressional critics of the National Security Agency program that collects the telephone records of millions of Americans stepped up their efforts as the Supreme Court turned away an unusual challenge to the scope of the surveillance.

The intensifying push against the NSA on both the legal and legislative fronts reflected new pressure being put on the extensive surveillance effort in the wake of revelations by the former NSA contractor Edward J. Snowden, pressure that is running into stiff resistance from congressional leaders of both parties as well as the Obama Administration.