The "war" on terror cannot be won as its fighting a tactic not an actual enemy, its like fighting a war on The blitzkrieg, its a military strategy not a tangible thing. So the war will never be over so even if the patriot act said "This will be defunct when the war on terror is over" it would never be defunct as any future president or powermonger (meh same thing) would just say we havent won the war on terror. It's a catch 22.