Two revelations this week about the federal government collecting data on citizens has reignited the debate about when national security trumps individual privacy.

First, news that Verizon is providing data about its U.S. customers to the federal government on a daily basis. Then, The Guardian and the Washington Post revealed that the National Security Agency has access to data from internet companies including Google, Facebook and Apple.

David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times, weighs in on the federal government's practices and what they say about the Obama presidency.