Rieder: A Ringing Rejection Of NSA Surveillance

A judge's ruling that NSA snooping is probably unconstitutional shows the impact of Edward Snowden.

Many commentators were critical when Timemagazine picked Pope Francis rather than National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden as its Person of the Year.

But Snowden got quite a consolation prize Monday when U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon ruled that the NSA's collection of the phone records of millions of Americans is probably unconstitutional.

Snowden says he didn't think the government's massive surveillance would stand up to a challenge in court, and that was in part why he leaked the classified government documents that exposed them.

"How could it not vindicate him?" asks Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who led the way on the Snowden story with his articles in the British newspaper The Guardian.

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