It appears to be worded gently, but Senator Russ Feingold‘s recent message to President Obama may be a foreshadowing of a more blunt conversation to come.

Upon hearing of the Obama Administration’s decision to defend the power, first asserted under George W. Bush, to destroy any legal challenge to its massive electronic spying program against Americans, Senator Feingold made the following statement.

“I am troubled that once again the Obama administration has decided to invoke the state secrets privilege in a case challenging the previous administration’s alleged misconduct. The Obama administration’s action, on top of Congress’s mistaken decision last year to give immunity to the telecommunications companies that allegedly participated in the warrantless wiretapping program, will make it even harder for courts to rule on the legality of that program. In February, I asked for a classified briefing so that I can understand the reasons for the Department’s decision to invoke the privilege in another case, and I intend to seek information on this new case as well. I also encourage the greatest possible public accounting of the use of the state secrets privilege and welcome the Attorney General’s statement that he hopes to share his review with the American people.”

Barack Obama is claiming, as George W. Bush did, that he has the power to withhold information subpoenaed by U.S. courts. Part of Obama’s excuse for this denial of constitutional checks and balances of his presidential power is the same as Bush’s: That the President has the power to declare any government information off limits on an unsubstantiated claim of national security interests. Obama claims that all the President has to do is declare something a State Secret, without providing any evidence of a link to national security, and that piece of information is then untouchable.

Barack Obama goes further than George W. Bush, however, in asserting this unlimited power of secrecy, stating that even without declaring information to be a State Secret, the right of Americans to sue the government when they are illegally spied upon has been eliminated by the Patriot Act. Obama’s decision to follow the Unitary Executive legal theories of the Bush Administration makes Americans powerless to stop federal government spies from invading their privacy at whim. President Obama, like George W. Bush, is attempting to place himself in a position above the law.

During the presidential campaign last year, Barack Obama promised to reform the Patriot Act. Now, Barack Obama is using the worst aspects of the Patriot Act to justify a Bush-like grab for power. Right after his inauguration this year, Obama pledged to have a government of unprecedented openness and accountability. Now, Barack Obama is saying that he has the power to cover up any information that he wants to.

It seems that Barack Obama’s promises are worth about as much as a share in General Motors.

Senator Russ Feingold clearly understands the threat of Obama’s actions, but he is choosing carefully the words he uses in public to discuss this new constitutional crisis. It seems that a power struggle involving Obama and Feingold is taking place behind the scenes. Keep a close watch on both to see when it erupts again.