I think I agree with everything said here besides John's comment about the posse comitas, that was little more than a childish dig and deserves no more comment.

The Military and FEMA didn't need any aditional authority in this matter. Blanco told Bush to "send everything you've got." and once it was declared as a federal disaster it was up to FEMA to manage the relief effort and communications. Had Bush given the orders to mobilize at that point and had FEMA done a halfway decent job of communications, few people would have had reason to complain about the Federal response.

So Bush says his response will be to increase the authority of the military? What else do you expect from Bush.