WASHINGTON — In an unprecedented shift in legal proceedings, the NSA has overturned the US Court of Appeals' decision that the mass collection of telephone metadata is illegal, Duffel Blog has learned.

This comes in the wake of nearly two years of legal debate, which began when whistleblower Edward Snowden really wanted to visit Moscow but couldn't afford the trip.

"This double-reversal is unique for two reasons," said Judge William Pauley, a Clinton appointee to the Southern District of New York who originally had voted in 2013 that the program was legal. "First, this is a unique program with unique national security implications. And second, the NSA is not part of the judicial branch of the United States government. This makes it very unusual that they would weigh in on the matter, never mind deliver a legally-binding ruling."

The NSA's ruling was initially met by outrage, with several members of the ACLU protesting outside the White House. One spokesman, Carla Brown, was seen in front of local cameras delivering a scathing message.