New York, July 16 (RHC)-- The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, has filed a lawsuit to immediately end the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone data.

In May, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the bulk collection was illegal. The U.S. Congress then passed the USA FREEDOM Act, requiring the NSA to get a warrant in order to obtain records from phone companies. But the law, and a ruling by the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, allowed the practice to continue until the end of November.

In a statement, ACLU staff attorney Alex Abdo said: "The Constitution doesn’t have a grace period. Bulk collection is unconstitutional and must end."