ACLU sues U.S. government on NSA spying

The ACLU is suing the U.S. government in order to obtain information related to the NSA's surveillance data. Still by PBS NewsHour

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the United States government in an attempt to make the government release details concerning the NSA's foreign surveillance and how they use the data the agency collects from Americans.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in New York, looks to gain access to information concerning the use of Executive Order 12333. The order, signed in 1981, governs the surveillance of foreign entities, which the NSA uses to collect data globally.

the ACLU wrote on its website, "according to recent reports," most likely referring to the Edward Snowden leaks, the government is relying upon the executive order to "sweep up the international communications of countless Americans," including cellphone records, email address books and data from Google and Yahoo. The post also says that the lawsuit was filed to enforce Freedom of Information Act requests submitted in May.

The NSA, CIA, Justice Department and Defense Department were all named in the lawsuit. A spokesman for the Justice Department, Reuters reports, said the U.S. government would respond to the suit in court.