Michael Hayden is a master of Bushspeak, as illustrated by his comments as he's making the rounds on Capitol Hill, prior to his confirmation hearings.
The NSA surveillance programs are designed "to preserve the security and the liberty of the American people", he says. The American people seem to agree, at least on part one of the proposition, according to the instant polls. Part two seems to have become less relevant to a majority of them.
After the adequate amount of pre-election posturing, aka "tough questions" by senators of both parties that profess to be "great admirers" of the general, George Bush can thus probably safely bet that his nominee will be confirmed. He will have scored political points with his base, and democrats will in all likelyhood fail to capitalize on this episode.
This might explain why the White House suddenly decided to seize the moment on another burning issue, with an address to the nation on immigration Monday night.