"old school" military, at least the American variety, means believing that the military should not pick the targets, or at least not set its own goals. That's for the civilian leadership to determine. If the Prez sez "nuke Paris", the military may get to choose between the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe as ground zero, but it doesn't get to pick Paris as a target.

Besides, you're on really shaky ground trying to compare illegal domestic spying with an actual military operation. There's a huge body of law, from the Constitution to Posse Comitatus, that makes clear that Americans are never a legitimate target for the American military. "We have met the enemy and they is us"...words to live by from Pogo.