The full-page ad depicts the image of King with the reminder that “40 years ago, wiretapping innocent American citizens was an abuse of government power. It still is.” The ACLU provides the phone number for the White House and asks that people call and “Tell the administration to stop the illegal spying on Americans.” As a result of surveillance of citizens in the mid-70’s, Congress passed a law mandating that the government receive court approval before instigating wiretapping. It is this law that President Bush has blatantly violated, according to the ACLU.

The ACLU is calling on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Bush's warrantless NSA electronic surveillance program.''

In a formal request sent to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the ACLU called for the appointment of "an outside special counsel with the independence to investigate and prosecute any and all criminal acts committed by any member of the Executive Branch in the warrantless electronic surveillance of people in the United States over the past four years by the NSA," noting that "such crimes are serious felonies and they need to be fully and independently investigated."

We should not allow the President to trump our country's law and the constitution.

Our government is based upon a separation of powers and a system of checks and balances,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “The actions taken by the president undermine the very foundations of our country. We urge the relevant Congressional committees to investigate how the president abused his power as our chief executive. We applaud Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter for committing to hold oversight hearings. The American people deserve to know the truth.”