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It's from Tom Clancy's [u]Executive Orders[/u]. The phrase is used to justify shutting down interstate travel, public assembly, most businesses, and a few other things. The president's justification for ignoring the Constitution is that it "is not a suicide pact." In other words, the end justifies the means. I've heard this term used a few times on CNN to justify illegal actions by law enforcement so I did some research to find-out what it meant.z
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Your reference is correct, although I'm not sure if it's the first time the phrase has been used. It was certainly the first time I had ever heard it, though.
You must remember, however, that Jack Ryan was facing an attack against America involving the airborne strain of the Ebola Zaire virus. Only a fool would believe that taking the actions he did would be worse than 2/3 of the population being wiped out.
That being said, vigilance would be required to ensure that a legitimate encroachment of rights did not become permanent. Note that when I say "legitimate", I mean it. Banning guns during a terrorism crisis would be the dumbest thing anyone could think of because a) it would be completely ineffective and b) it would eat up resources that could more effectively be used elsewhere.
I have yet to see the government propose anything postm 9/11 that alarms me. Hell, I think they haven't gone far enough. Racial profiling is one example where I think we should be looking at every single possible source of extremist muslims, and the hell with what people think.