WASHINGTON — Bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for stricter regulation of President Bush's secret spying program grew Thursday, as senators briefed by administration officials about the surveillance termed the information inadequate, and called for more investigation of the eavesdropping.
The 16-member Senate Intelligence Committee met behind closed doors for three hours to hear details on the program, conducted by the National Security Agency. Bush has said the agency intercepted communications between terrorist operatives operating outside U.S. borders and people inside the country.
Critics, who include Republican and Democratic lawmakers, have contended that the president's authorization of the surveillance -- which began shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- violated federal laws that require the government to obtain special warrants for any domestic spying.
Some Republicans on Thursday joined Democrats in asking Congress to pass legislation that would establish specific judicial oversight procedures for the program.
"I believe that we can end this controversy about the constitutionality of this program very simply -- and that is to deal with it by legislation," said Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), a member of the intelligence and judiciary committees. "I think there is some support in Congress to do that."
Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales and Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, deputy director of national intelligence and a former National Security Agency director, conducted the briefing for senators, offering what the White House described as operational details of the spying program. They discussed it with the 20-member House Intelligence Committee in a private session Wednesday.
"We wanted to provide additional information so that members of the [committees] had a better understanding of how this program is carefully tailored and it's closely monitored," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Although committee members debated the quality of the briefings, the fact that they were held marked a key shift for the Bush administration.
Since their earliest days in office, administration officials have argued that they are legally entitled to keep private many of their discussions, including the deliberations of an energy task force run by Vice President Dick Cheney -- which the Supreme Court agreed did not have to be disclosed -- and internal debates about interrogation techniques and other tactics used in the war on terrorism.
