What McConnell really said
Funnily enough gets only an aside mention in Novak's column......
"It's true that some of the authorities would carry over to the period they were established for one year. That would put us into the August, September time frame. However, that's not the real issue. The issue is liability protection for the private sector. We can't do this mission without their help."
If you don't ask the telcos to do something illegal, they cant be sued when they cooperate.