from what I understand intelligence agencies in some other countries work in this fashion: one agency does the "data gathering" and provides other agencies with information upon request. in theory, this means fewer agencies snooping in your private life and that there is some sort of gate keeper that limits circulation of data based on need-to-know.
so back to my not sarcastic questions: is this a good or bad thing?
However—and this is especially troubling—“if analysts stumble across evidence that an American has committed any crime, they will send it to the Justice Department,” the Times wrote. So information that was collected without a warrant—or indeed any involvement by a court at all—for foreign intelligence purposes with little to no privacy protections, can be accessed raw and unfiltered by domestic law enforcement agencies to prosecute Americans with no involvement in threats to national security."
I assume they still cant use the information in court but that really doesn't make it much better.