The good guys had to wait until the bad guys played their hand so that they could be labeled terrorist and traitors.
Once they outed themselves, it was game on.
The good guys were tracking them all along and knew what their plans were ages ago.
We are talking about individuals who take out ISIS, Al Quada, and the Taliban.
They were ready for them months ago and had every move planned out and were ready to go once they got the Green Light.
[go order].
Take a gander at what capabilities are publicly known that they use.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_government_mass_surveillance_projects