A five-year investigation by the Justice Department’s ethics office sharply criticized the memorandums and found, in a report disclosed this year, that the two men had committed “professional misconduct.” But that finding was rejected by David Margolis, a career lawyer at the Justice Department who made a final ruling on the ethics review. Mr. Margolis said the work of Judge Bybee and Mr. Yoo had “significant flaws,” but said that any assessment should consider the climate of fear and urgency after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Well, that makes it okay. "Unauthorized" also sounds like "illegal."