BI | From USA Today (emphasis ours):
The NSA, which needed Qwest's participation to completely cover the country, pushed back hard. ...
... the agency suggested that Qwest's foot-dragging might affect its ability to get future classified work with the government.
Nacchio's legal concerns about the NSA program at the time mirror those of civil liberty groups today.
Cauley, citing sources familiar with events, reported the NSA asserted that Qwest didn't need a court order — or approval under Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (which oversees NSA snooping) — to provide the data.
"They told (Qwest) they didn't want to [run the proposal by the FISA court] because FISA might not agree with them," one NSA insider told USA Today.
There is a record of the NSA running afoul of FISA: In July the FISA court ruled that the NSA violated the Fourth Amendment's restriction against unreasonable searches and seizures "on at least one occasion."
Furthermore, Nacchio felt that it was unclear who would have access to Qwest customers' information and how that information might be used. Sources told Cauley that the NSA said government agencies including the FBI, CIA, and DEA might have access to its massive database.
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