Sponsor
Rand Paul
Senator · R-KY
Senator · R-KY
The bill strengthens privacy and Fourth Amendment protections for U.S. persons by restricting government use of EO 12333-collected intelligence and requiring warrants, while trading off reduced intelligence/law-enforcement flexibility, potential operational delays, and new discovery/privacy risks from expanded private-party access.
U.S. persons (including immigrants and federal employees) are protected from the government using EO 12333-collected information against them in criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings, strengthening privacy and reducing risk of unlawful prosecutions.
U.S. persons (and entities that employ or interact with them) must be subject to statutory warrants or Federal Rules of Civil Procedure authorities for searches/acquisitions, reinforcing Fourth Amendment procedural safeguards for searches of Americans.
Aggrieved U.S. persons (e.g., defendants or civil litigants) may be allowed to introduce information derived from EO 12333 in proceedings, giving individuals a pathway to access potentially exculpatory or relevant intelligence evidence.
Federal and state national-security and law-enforcement agencies will have reduced ability to use EO 12333-derived intelligence in investigations and prosecutions involving U.S. persons, potentially weakening counterintelligence and national-security cases.
Banning or restricting queries of U.S. persons' communications under EO 12333 can introduce operational complexity and delays for agencies seeking time-sensitive data, impeding rapid investigations and response.
Allowing private-party (aggrieved) access to EO 12333-derived information could increase discovery burdens and risk exposing sensitive intelligence in court records, creating privacy and safety concerns for individuals and operations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Restricts EO 12333 surveillance of U.S. persons by making FISA/Federal Rules authorities exclusive, bans querying U.S. persons' communications under EO 12333, and limits use of such information in proceedings.
Official title: Amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to prohibit the use of authorities under such Act to surveil United States persons and to prohibit the use of information acquired under such Act in any criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding or as part of any criminal, civil, or administrative investigation.
Introduced July 15, 2026 by Rand Paul · Last progress July 15, 2026
Restricts how the government may collect and use intelligence gathered under Executive Order 12333 when the target is a United States person. The bill amends FISA to make statutory authorities and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure the exclusive means to obtain content, non‑content communications information, or business records for U.S. persons, bans querying of U.S. persons' communications under EO 12333, and generally bars use of EO 12333‑derived information in criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings while preserving certain Fourth Amendment exceptions. It also defines an expanded class of “aggrieved persons” to include anyone whose communications or activities were subject to surveillance under EO 12333, and expressly allows an aggrieved United States person to introduce or use information acquired under EO 12333 in legal proceedings or investigations. The text adds related definitions and a rule of construction preserving Supreme Court Fourth Amendment exceptions (for example, exigent circumstances).