Mounting a forceful defence of the NSA, Obama said: “They’re not abusing authorities in order to listen to your private phone calls, or read your emails.” He did not mention that judges on the secret surveillance court have found NSA has repeatedly and “systematically” overstepped its bounds. “We cannot unilaterally disarm our intelligence agencies,” Obama said.

In his widely anticipated address at the Justice Department on the future course of US surveillance policy, Obama said the government should no longer hold databases of every call record made in the United States, citing the “potential for abuse” as the reason for making the change.

Obama has directed attorney general Eric Holder, NSA director Keith Alexander and the rest of the intelligence community to present proposals over the next several weeks for what private entity should hold Americans’ telephone metadata, casting it as an issue that requires further deliberation before any decision that could have major implications for both privacy and security.

I suspect that there will be a carefully worded solution that will allow them to carry on regardless.