Late last year, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill that gives the president and our government new sweeping powers that are unconstitutional and infringe on human rights.

While most of you were undoubtedly out binge drinking on New Year’s Eve, president Obama signed the act into law. The act essentially throws the bill of rights in the dumpster and gives the president the ability to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens without a trial or due process if they are deemed a terrorist threat. Without trials or due process, how would you know whether or not detainees are in fact terrorist threats? Honestly, you wouldn’t.

The mere possibility of Stalinist authoritarianism is a substantial threat to our freedom. What’s next? If people bash the President, will the government take them away? The NDAA makes that completely possible and legal.  Still, there is an additional aspect of the new law that places the civil liberties of Americans in greater peril.

The act puts all military forces at the disposal of the president to seek out and apprehend anyone in any location, whether they are a citizen living in Los Angeles or a foreigner living abroad. This is essentially a de facto legislative repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which protects citizens by making it illegal to use military forces in domestic law enforcement. Anyone scared yet?

One person with such powers goes against the traditions and intentions of the founding fathers. This is unconstitutional. What happened to checks and balances? For the first time in U.S. history, the president has the ability to target citizens and use military force on domestic soil to detain them.

The act is easily the most radical and dangerous bill ever signed into law. Don’t just blame President Obama, though. Congress passed the bill before it even reached the president’s desk. What happened to the congressional oath to protect the Constitution from all enemies, foreign or domestic?

It reminds me of a scene in the movie “The Patriot” when Mel Gibson’s character says, “I’d rather have one tyrant 3,000 miles away than 3,000 tyrants one mile away.” Now, however, we live in a globalized world where one tyrant who is 3,000 miles away can still impose his will.

President Obama has promised not to use these powers against citizens, but what is a promise from a politician who has not kept many promises? Moreover, if you found out that you had a superpower and then promised not to use it, would you keep your promise? I don’t think so.

Under the act, nothing binds the current president or any of his successors from abusing those powers. This is not a conspiracy theory; it is an opinion based in fact. Our government has taken advantage of the national fear of a terrorist attack. Now there is something else to fear: our own government.