Meh, as the president, he has control over the direction of the executive agencies, of which the surveillance state has several. The "democracy by lawyer" argument that the article suggests is completely hollow, as leadership that way can't undo past mistakes that were made illegally, such as the Bush dragnet / wars.

Random reps wouldn't work because the public is largely uneducated and malleable to propaganda. Maybe opt-in random with a series of civic examinations would work.