[Aloisius]

It depends. Filing a lawsuit against Obama is political theater regardless of who does it simply because he is immune from civil lawsuits for actions relating to his job.

However, suing everyone and anyone else (as Paul seems to have done), isn't.

So what Paul has done is a little political theater and a little practical. If Polosi had done the same thing, the result would be the same.

As a legislator though, it seems the far more practical way of ending phone surveillance would be to draft a bill making it explicitly illegal.

[abtinf]

There is already a law that makes it illegal: the fourth amendment, further backed by extensive case law.

And the Fourth Amendment was intended for exactly this case. One of the last actions of the English which precipitated the American revolution was a general warrant issued in a secret court in England which gave English soldiers authority to search any American's home at any time without any reason for suspicion.

[nickff]

The party named in the lawsuit corresponds to the conventions of the court where the complaint is filed. If you would like to see a good example of this, I would refer you to the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act (A.K.A. Obamacare) lawsuit, where the parties named in the suit varied by the jurisdiction where the law was challenged.