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Behind The Mic With Joe Mathieu: Oversight Of NSA To Increase

BOSTON (CBS) – It's another high wire act for the President Obama as he tries to balance privacy with security.

He will deliver a highly-anticipated address Friday morning about government spying programs following a six-month review. It will happen at the Justice Department and we have a good sense of what he's going to say.

Whispers from the West Wing suggest the president will increase oversight of the NSA and extend privacy protections to foreigners, even as he allows the NSA to continue collecting data on phone calls here in the U.S.

There are questions about what will happen with all the data. Reports say the president was wrestling with this as late as Thursday night. How to manage the information and where to store it. His own advisory panel is recommending the job be taken away from the NSA and the president is expected to follow.

But, we don't know who or what would store them. Telecoms? A third party?

To that end, President Obama is not expected to announce a decision Friday, instead asking Congress to work with him to find a solution.

And of course there is no consensus on Capitol Hill. Far from it. And that's where the president could run into trouble. He has so many constituencies to please that he may end up pleasing none of them.

Many Republicans support the NSA's spying programs, saying they help to keep us safe.

But many Democrats want them to stop because they think the NSA is invading our privacy - giving this constitutional law professor turned president a lot to think about.

Follow Joe on Twitter @joemathieuwbz

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