It depends upon the premise which you extrapolate from. You could start with the premise of natural rights as described in the founding documents. Alternativel

It depends upon the premise which you extrapolate from. You could start with the premise of natural rights as described in the founding documents. Alternatively you could proceed from a realpolitik perspective of what has been possible for the US gov historically and in the present. The government does many things and without exception these actions are construed as being for the public good. Despite this, we have witnessed countless abuses of authority. Simply observing that an action is possible for government or that a precedent exists for a particular government action, is not the same as rationalizing it as just. Of course there's still room for moderation and pragmatism. It would be impossible to exist in the real world without some measure of pragmatism, but we should also strive for our ideals.