Claim: Law enforcement officers are allowed to search a business without owner's consent with the Patriots Act.

The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26 , 2001 . With its ten-letter abbreviation -LRB- USA PATRIOT -RRB- expanded , the full title is `` Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 '' .   On May 26 , 2011 , President Barack Obama signed the PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of 2011 , a four-year extension of three key provisions in the Act : roving wiretaps , searches of business records , and conducting surveillance of `` lone wolves '' -- individuals suspected of terrorist-related activities not linked to terrorist groups .   Following a lack of Congressional approval , parts of the Patriot Act expired on June 1 , 2015 . With the passage of the USA Freedom Act on June 2 , 2015 , the expired parts were restored and renewed through 2019 . However , Section 215 of the law was amended to stop the National Security Agency -LRB- NSA -RRB- from continuing its mass phone data collection program . Instead , phone companies will retain the data and the NSA can obtain information about targeted individuals with permission from a federal court .   From broad concern felt among Americans from both the September 11 attacks and the 2001 anthrax attacks , Congress rushed to pass legislation to strengthen security controls . On October 23 , 2001 , Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner introduced H.R. 3162 incorporating provisions from a previously sponsored House bill and a Senate bill also introduced earlier in the month . The next day , the Act passed the House 357 to 66 , with Democrats comprising the overwhelming portion of dissent . The three Republicans voting ` no ' were Robert Ney of Ohio , Butch Otter of Idaho and Ron Paul of Texas . On October 25 , the Act passed the Senate by 98 to 1 , the only dissident being Russ Feingold of Wisconsin .   Opponents of the law have criticized its authorization of indefinite detentions of immigrants ; the permission given law enforcement officers to search a home or business without the owner 's or the occupant 's consent or knowledge ; the expanded use of National Security Letters , which allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation -LRB- FBI -RRB- to search telephone , e-mail , and financial records without a court order ; and the expanded access of law enforcement agencies to business records , including library and financial records . Since its passage , several legal challenges have been brought against the act , and federal courts have ruled that a number of provisions are unconstitutional .   Many provisions of the act were to sunset beginning December 31 , 2005 , approximately four years after its passage . In the months preceding the sunset date , supporters of the act pushed to make its sun-setting provisions permanent , while critics sought to revise various sections to enhance civil liberty protections . In July 2005 , the U.S. Senate passed a reauthorization bill with substantial changes to several sections of the act , while the House reauthorization bill kept most of the act 's original language . The two bills were then reconciled in a conference committee that was criticized by Senators from both the Republican and Democratic parties for ignoring civil liberty concerns .   The bill , which removed most of the changes from the Senate version , passed Congress on March 2 , 2006 , and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on March 9 and 10 , 2006 .