Here's some history and background on the secret courts and secret court order which allows spying on all Americans via Verizon and the other telcos.
First of all it is signed by judge Roger Vinson, the same Florida judge that found Obama-care unconstitutional, and who sits on United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).
This court, created in 1978 but expanded under The Patriot Act, which is not an adversarial court, in that only government lawyers appear, has issued over 18,000 FISA warrants (data only to 2004) and rejected only about 5, while 'modifying' only a few. If the prosecution (since there is no defense attorney) appeals a modification, this goes to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR) which has apparently only had two public rulings (both heavily redacted).
In 2012:
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved all 1,856 surveillance requests it received from U.S. authorities in 2012, according to its latest official report.
Slate
About the ruling itself:
The order also contains a gagging order, requiring that "no person shall disclose to any other person that the FBI or NSA has sought or obtained tangible things under this Order".
BBC
So, Verizon and the other telcos are forbidden from even acknowledging this (which by the way must have a significant expense both to their customers and to taxpayers)
The court order appears to explain the numerous cryptic public warnings by two US senators, Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, about the scope of the Obama administration's surveillance activities.
For roughly two years, the two Democrats have been stridently advising the public that the US government is relying on "secret legal interpretations" to claim surveillance powers so broad that the American public would be "stunned" to learn of the kind of domestic spying being conducted.
The Guardian
It appears likely that the Verizon ruling was simply a renewal of an on going program.
Full court ruling: Here
What does the data contain? Does it contain only the so called meta data (a record of who was called, when, for how long and where both parties were during the call -- and with location services on, could also perhaps contain where the phone owner was at all times) , does it contain keywords also, or does it perhaps contain the entire call? That part still seems to be unknown.
UN report on mass surveillance: http://www.slate.com/...
Americans fought a Revolution in part over the right to be free from unreasonable searches - to ensure that our government couldn't come knocking in the middle of the night for no reason. We need to find a way forward to make sure that we can stop terrorists while protecting the privacy, and liberty, of innocent Americans. We have to find a way to give the President the power he needs to protect us, while making sure he doesn't abuse that power. It is possible to do that. We have done it before, we could do it again.
-- Candidate Barrack Obama 2006