I am sorry to say it like this, but what you say is BULLSHIT .
Allow me to explain why.
First and foremost, it is against the LAW http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_laws_of_the_United_States. You see the irony in a governmental entity for security not respecting the law.
I will not go on and on about the moral and philosophical issues at hand with their practices.
I would add, I will point you to the Patriot ACT, (and while we are at it all the ACTs signed after 9/11 mostly by the bush government) that allows them under different simple conditions (a easy as "suspected" of terrorism, threat to the nation, ...) to arrest you for an unlimited time without any right (no layer, no call, no nothing).
So an innocent curious person that lets say talks on a forum just like this one  and happens to respond to a fellow hacker he never saw about a grey area subject, could be arrested and then well you can imagine.
Most importantly, what you are saying in the end is that, well because they are not actually targeting you, you somewhat don't feel concerned of the fact that they are doing something wrong.
I am sorry but i can't agree. I am for another continent, i don't plan on become an enemy to any state, yet i can't accept laxism and abuse of zeal. This is how all dictators rose to power, this is how empires fell.