Democratic Governor Jerry Brown rejected a bill on Sunday that would have required law enforcement authorities to secure a court-issued warrant before they can fly unmanned aerial vehicles in most cases.

Brown wrote in a letter to the California State Assembly that he returned Assembly Bill 1327 without his signature.

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"There are undoubtedly circumstances where a warrant is appropriate," he wrote.

"The bill's exceptions, however, appear to be too narrow and could impose requirements beyond what is required by either the 4th Amendment or the privacy provisions in the California Constitution," Brown added.

Assembly Bill 1327, which was introduced by Republican Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, easily passed both houses of Congress.

The bill addressed a number of non-law enforcement operations of drones by agencies of the government, but the essence of the suggested law was leaning toward guaranteeing that police secure warrants prior to deploying most surveillance drones.

The only situations where a warrant would not be required were "emergency situations," such as chases, environmental disasters, fires, hostage crises and search and rescue operations.

The bill was widely supported by privacy advocates who said that the police surveillance drones step on the public's privacy. The advocates said that drones that have advanced camera equipment are able to quietly hover at altitudes far below the height at which helicopters, which are currently being used by police for warrantless surveillance, undertake their mission.

Gorell said he was disappointed by Brown's rejection of a bill that would provide commonsense protection to civil liberties and people's privacy.

"We live in an era of government surveillance, where powerful government agencies like the NSA and IRS have demonstrated blatant disregard for Americans' privacy rights," he said in a statement.

"In Congress, I will make personal privacy a top priority and work on establishing common sense drone restrictions that California failed to establish," Gorell added.

TagsGov. Jerry Brown, Assembly Bill 1327, Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, drones