Therein lies IMO one of the big issues with US justice: the law is interpreted literally. But the aim of the original law (what it attempted to protect or achieve, i.e. the citizens' privacy) is not really deemed relevant.
In the US legal system, the intent of the law is considered quite relevant in the application of the law.
These are not the only views in play in the judiciary, but they are important ones nonetheless. I recommend a book by Richard Posner called 'How Judges Think' which offers and accessible and thought-provoking view of the clashes between different philosophies or jurisprudence.
So while there might be a committee of 14 congressmen that intend a law to act a certain way, there is a larger group that then proceeds to debate and enact the law, that may not share that intent, but may share the intent as codified in the law, which may be narrower or broader than the intent of the people who wrote the legislation itself.