Going a bit higher up the stack from where you are at it's a perfect example of the real problem being the US Patriot Act which required the NSA to spy in ways that were not in alignment with their prior charter. In terms of spying itself, everyone is fooling themselves if they think other countries aren't engaged in the exact same activities. Snowden's leaks simply brought what's been going on for a long time by a large number of governments into the public light.