'This Week' Transcript: Rep. Mike Rogers and Sen. Mark Udall

NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2013— -- Below is the rush transcript for "This Week on December 22, 2013

STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning. And welcome to This Week.

Spies scramble.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Just because we can do something, doesn't mean we necessarily should.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: The NSA surveillance program hit hard this week by experts and the courts. Will the president respond by scrapping the collection of your phone records? Should he grant amnesty to Edward Snowden? This morning, both sides of that heated debate.

Plus...

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has this been the worst year of your presidency?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think has been your biggest (inaudible) today?

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STEPHANOPOULOS: After a tough year, how can Obama shake his second term slump? Will the least productive congress ever do better in 2014?

And...

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PHIL ROBERTSON, DUCK DYNASTY: Gross sexual immorality.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: Should shocking words from Duck Dynasty's commander sink the super hit. The powerhouse roundtable takes is all on.

Plus, our New Year's predictions. Right here, this Sunday morning.

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, This Week with George Stephanopoulos starts now.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hello, again. A whole lot to get to this Sunday morning before Christmas. And we begin with the latest on the biggest security breach in U.S. history. The surveillance program revealed by Edward Snowden under fire on two fronts this week. A federal judge signaling he'd strike it down. And the president's handpicked panel of experts saying the government should stop scooping up phone records of American citizens.

At that punishing year-end press conference, President Obama seemed to agree. And we're going to take on that debate with two key members of congress.

First, the backstory from ABC's chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross. Good morning, Brian.

BRIAN ROSS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: George, the report by the president's handpicked panel was another devastating blow for the NSA and its most controversial program collecting the phone records of every American who owns a phone.

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ROSS: The NSA says its collection of billions of phone records from American citizens has helped to stop terror attacks, a claim often repeated by the president himself.

OBAMA: As I've said, this program is an important toll in our effort to disrupt terrorist plots.

ROSS: But when the five members of the president's panel went to the White House to deliver its report this week, including former counterterrorism official and now ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the 300 page document was a strong repudiation of what the NSA and the president have said, calling for the program to be shut down.

RICHARD CLARKE, ABC NEWS CONSULTANT: We think the so-called metadata telephony program has not been essential, has not contributed significantly, to the prevention of terrorist attacks in the United States or abroad.

ROSS: The report said while it found no evidence of actual abuse by the NSA, there is a lurking danger of abuse in a program that does not even make the country safer.

OBAMA: This is only going to work if the American people have confidence and trust.

ROSS: The White House panel's report came just days after a federal judge in Washington ruled that the phone collection record as unconstitutional.