''President Bush yesterday invoked executive privilege to block a congressional subpoena exploring abuses in the Boston FBI office, prompting the chairman of a House committee to lambaste his fellow Republicans and triggering what one congressman said is the start of 'a constitutional confrontation.'

'You tell the president there's going to be war between the president and this committee,' Dan Burton, the Indiana Republican who heads the House Government Reform Committee, told a Justice Department official during what was supposed to be a routine prehearing handshake.

'His dad was at a 90 percent approval rating and he lost, and the same thing can happen to him,' Burton added, jabbing his finger and glaring at Carl Thorsen, a deputy assistant attorney general who was attempting to introduce a superior who was testifying.

'We've got a dictatorial president and a Justice Department that does not want Congress involved. ... Your guy's acting like he's king.'''

- Boston Globe