The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) revealed on Monday that the U.S. government has released new documents that showed a 1981 Executive Order (EO) as a basis for the National Security Agency's (NSA) surveillance programs.

According to the ACLU, the NSA used EO 12333 was used by the National Security Agency as the basis for its spying activities.

Like Us on Facebook

According to the ACLU, the NSA used the EO 12333 more than two other related laws that have been highlighted during the debates regarding the agency's spying activities.

The ACLU said the NSA has exploited the EO to collect confidential information and intelligence worldwide.

The ACLU obtained the documents after it filed a lawsuit in 2013 regarding the EO's use, which was signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, with the intent to give the government extended powers to conduct intelligence activities.

Two weeks after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked the files that exposed NSA's surveillance program in June 2013, a legal fact sheet came out that revealed how the agency relied on the EO to defend its activities that involve taking confidential citizen information without consent.

In a blog posted on Monday by ACLU lawyer Alex Adbo, he said the documents revealed that EO 12333 has "governed the majority of the NSA's spying," although it was not the focus during public the debates.

In addition, Abdo wrote that Congress' meetings have failed to address this issue during the public debates. Instead, he said lawmakers only focused on other laws without looking into NSA's mandate under EO 12333.

Abdo added that the retrieval of information extended beyond the usual reasons of terrorist detection.

The ACLU's lawsuit was filed in New York on December 2013, which stated that under the NSA's surveillance program, phone records and contact list were obtained illegally, including information from users of Yahoo! Inc and Google.

TagsNSA, snowden, national defense agency, information leak, politics, Congress