Limiting NSA Spying Is Inconsistent With Rationale, Critics Say

At the same time, Gonzales and other officials have said that the FISA process has worked well for cases not covered by the NSA program, though the process differs little, if at all.

"While FISA is appropriate for general foreign intelligence collection, the president made the determination that FISA is not always sufficient for providing the sort of nimble early-warning system we need against al Qaeda," Gonzales testified.

Many critics of the NSA program view the administration's comments on FISA as confusing, and question why the statute is "cumbersome and burdensome," in Gonzales's words, only for cases involving international calls. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) called the arguments "incomprehensible."

Several GOP senators, including Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.), lauded the administration for limiting the program to international calls. "We are not going hog-wild restraining American liberties," Sessions said.

Some supporters of the NSA effort advocate a broader approach. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) urged the administration to consider expanding the program to allow eavesdropping without warrants for communications inside the United States.

"There is no less reason to do it than there is to intercept international communications with respect to a potential terrorist warning or attack," he said.

Michael J. Woods, a former chief of the FBI's National Security Law unit, said one key legal question is whether the NSA is intercepting calls from telecommunications junctions in the United States or overseas. That distinction could be important in determining how far the NSA might go in intercepting purely domestic calls, Woods said.

Gonzales and other officials have declined to discuss such operational details. But former senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.) told The Washington Post that briefers told him in October 2002 that Bush had authorized the NSA to intercept "conversations that . . . went through a transit facility inside the United States."

Vice President Cheney took a jab yesterday at Republican senators who have questioned the NSA program, asserting on PBS's "NewsHour" that the eight congressional leaders who were briefed on the program agreed with it. "That's the reaction that's important, not the one that comes after it becomes a political issue and people are trying to score political points," he said.

Democrats noted that two of their leaders did raise objections about the program before it was disclosed in December, and said that the briefings have not been extensive enough to be meaningful.

Staff writer Peter Baker contributed to this report.