"Beyond lobbying the companies, there is little law enforcement can do without congressional action. " Wait, what? Even with the privacy Apple and Google are offering there are huge amounts of ways to access data useful to law enforcement and the law enforcement seems to have the tools to force the companies to give it.
It shouldn't be legal for the government to request companies to do things that aren't codified in laws. No "asking" or "buying". We decide what and how the government functions. If the gov wants to do things differently, it can ask congress. Not apple or google.
I think the point is that these companies literally can't unlock the phones and give access to the data, since (according to them) they no longer have the keys to do so.
