The White House has said Bush has the authority to approve such operations to protect the nation. But critics say the program violates a 1978 statute -- the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA -- that outlawed domestic eavesdropping without approval from a special intelligence court.
The administration's new willingness to consider legislation appeared to be enough to appease several Republican lawmakers who had expressed misgivings about the domestic intelligence collection and were in a position to cast deciding votes on whether to launch a Senate inquiry.
A senior Republican aide said that before the meeting, Sens. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) told Roberts that they were prepared to vote for an investigation if the committee did not agree to work toward legislation.
The "agreement in principle" to discuss the DeWine proposal was enough to persuade the senators to postpone the vote on an inquiry. But the issue was far from resolved.
"This is just a starting point," the aide said.
Snowe indicated Thursday that the White House had bought a limited amount of time. In a statement, she called for "congressional and judicial review over a program that currently has none," and said the administration had until March 7 -- when a follow-up Intelligence Committee meeting is scheduled -- to "demonstrate its commitment to avoiding a constitutional deadlock."
The spying program was authorized by Bush in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Before the operation was exposed late last year, it had been one of the most closely guarded secrets in the intelligence community, with the administration providing briefings to only a handful of senior lawmakers.
Senate Democrats denounced Republicans for delaying the vote on an investigation. Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said the party-line vote to adjourn the meeting before taking up the proposal was "another stalling tactic."
"Today, the Senate Intelligence Committee once again abdicated its responsibility to oversee the intelligence activities of the United States," Rockefeller said.
Roberts defended the decision to block the vote, saying he believed an investigation would hurt an intelligence operation that he described as "vital for the protection of the American people." He offered few specifics about his discussions with the White House on possible legislation. Roberts' spokeswoman, Sarah Ross Little, described those talks as in their early stages.
