Senate Secretly Considered Alternate Ways For NSA To Collect Phone Data, Officials Say

Apparently, the Senate Intelligence Committee three years ago secretly considered -- but ultimately rejected -- alternate ways for the National Security Agency to collect and store massive amounts of Americans' phone records.

One of those options, outlined in a classified 2011 NSA analysis and reviewed in detail during closed committee meetings, was similar to what President Barack Obama is now advocating: that the government stop the bulk collection of Americans' phone records and instead ask phone companies to search their own business records for terrorism connections. After reviewing the 2011 NSA analysis, the Senate overseers decided not move forward with any alternate arrangement, according to two government officials familiar with the review. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the classified report.