Obama Says N.S.A. Curbs Would Address Worries --- WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday publicly endorsed a plan that Justice Department and intelligence officials have developed for a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Agency’s phone call records program, saying that he believed it would resolve privacy concerns without compromising the program’s utility as a counterterrorism tool. -- “They have presented me now with an option that I think is workable,” Mr. Obama said, adding, “I’m confident that it allows us to do what is necessary in order to deal with the dangers of a terrorist attack, but does so in a way that addresses some of the concerns that people had raised.” -- Mr. Obama made his remarks at a news conference in the Netherlands. The administration has not yet formally unveiled the plan, but it was detailed in a New York Times article that was based on accounts from senior administration officials. -- If Congress approved the plan, the N.S.A. would no longer collect records about Americans’ calling habits in bulk. Instead, the data would stay with phone companies, which would not be required to retain it any longer than they normally would. -- A judge’s order would be required before the N.S.A. could obtain records of callers who are linked to a suspect. The order would require the companies to swiftly provide the data in a standard technological format and allow the government to obtain the phone records of people up to two calling links, or “hops,” from a suspect, even if they had different providers. --- The question of whether judges should review each request ahead of time is a major difference between the administration plan and a new bipartisan bill unveiled on Tuesday by the chairman and ranking leader of the House Intelligence Committee, Representatives Mike Rogers, Republican of Michigan, and C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Democrat of Maryland. - More, CHARLIE SAVAGE, NYTimes, at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/us/politics/obama-says-nsa-curbs-would-address-worries.html?ref=world&_r=0