O'Reilly: Shut Down NSA Surveillance Program

The National Security Agency should dump its newly revealed PRISM surveillance program, says Fox News host Bill O'Reilly.

"You can't just seize everything and say you're doing so to try and root out terrorism. You have to have probable cause to violate the privacy of Americans," he said on his Monday show.

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"This PRISM program should be shut down immediately. If it's not, a class action suit should be filed and the Supreme Court should hear it as quickly as it can."

Another NSA program analyzing the metadata of phone calls is "questionable" but legal, O'Reilly said. However, the PRISM program revealed by contractor Edward Snowden is a "massive intrusion," O'Reilly said.

The onus of the NSA overreach falls on President Barack Obama, he says. Obama seeks an omnipotent federal government that "runs nearly everything." So the NSA program is "consistent," he says.

"The thread of Benghazi, of James Rosen, of IRS, of this listening deal, there's one thread: who's in charge? There's nobody in charge."

However, O'Reilly said, there is one silver lining to the scandals — his employers have done well from it. "This is great for ratings, great for us, but bad for the country," he said during an appearance on Fox and Friends Tuesday.