The Senate is set to convene in a rare Sunday session for what will likely be a high-stakes showdown over the National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone records, just hours before the post-9/11 provisions expire are set to expire, NBC News reported. At issue are Patriot Act provisions that allow the NSA to collect and store phone records of Americans who are not under federal investigation or people with no known ties to terrorist groups. President Barack Obama criticized the Senate delay, warning that the provisions' lapse could open the door to danger, but a growing bipartisan coalition of lawmakers has blocked the passage of a House bill that would shift the data storage to telecom companies, saying the bill does not go far enough to protect privacy.
