In my opinion, no, but you do raise a question that legitimately is in the realm of politics: how much free reign should the secret agencies have, and how much

In my opinion, no, but you do raise a question that legitimately is in the realm of politics: how much free reign should the secret agencies have, and how much security (measured in kilochildren?) should we get in return? A huge problem with the NSA's activities is that they are, or at least have been, so secret that it is impossible to even discuss in a meaningful way the political question you posed. This should be unacceptable even to those who think catching the 300 terrorists made the surveillance ok.