The nature of the war on terror has legitimized this type of behavior. Specifically, the nature of terrorism seems to motivate the United States government to go to great lengths in order to cause damage to an enemy that is largely immune to defeat, for cultural and religious reasons. Drones are a great example of how far they will go.
The use of nuclear bombs signaled the end of world war two. Maybe the Obama administration is hopeful that surveillance of all communication is the final step towards a resolution of this war. That's not legitimate in my eyes, but oh well (i certainly don't know the solution). On top of everything else that has happened, zero expectation of privacy seems to be the equivalent of the nuclear option at this point.
The word 'sociopath' describes these actions very well.
Considering that the United States is in a state of enduring war, and considering that all of the effort to monitor the internet comes from a desire to strengthen national security (which is a vital concern), it makes sense for the United States to behave this way.
After all, what is war other than purely sociopathic behavior? The monitoring of the internet is just an extension of these behaviors which manifest themselves during wartime.