> They certainly know that sooner or later things risk coming to light.

General Michael Hayden, former head of NSA, said essentially that on Face the Nation a few weeks ago:

  One of the results of the Snowden leaks is that it
  launched a national debate about the balance between
  privacy and security. 

  I'm convinced the more the American people know exactly 
  what it is we are doing in this balance between privacy 
  and security -- the more they know -- the more comfortable 
  they will feel. 

  So frankly I think we ought to be doing a bit more to 
  explain what it is we're doing, why, and the very tight 
  safeguards under which we are operating.

  ...

  Here's how I do the math. In an ideal world, I would 
  keep all of this secret because any of it that I make 
  public slices some of my operational advantage away from
  me. 

  But here's what I've learned heading up both NSA and CIA.
  You may be able to do one thing one-off based upon narrow
  legalness and the President's authorization, but in
  democracies like ours don't get to do something over a
  long period of time without national consensus. 

  So I'm willing to shave points off of my operational 
  effectiveness in order to make the American people a bit
  more comfortable about what it is we're doing; otherwise, 
  the American people won't let us do it in the first place.

CBS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpfwjI9Eqy4