Bush urges Congress to support him on warrantless eavesdropping

ATLANTA — President Bush on Thursday urged Congress to give him "additional authority" to continue his administration's warrantless-eavesdropping program.

He said his administration has filled many of the security gaps exposed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but he needs more power to adapt to changes in the threat.

"The nature of communications has changed quite dramatically," Bush warned in an Atlanta speech. "The terrorists who want to harm America can now buy disposable cellphones and open anonymous e-mail messages. Our laws need to change to take these changes into account."

The president's appeal for congressional action to strengthen the legal underpinnings of the National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program ran into roadblocks as he spoke.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., suspended efforts to draft legislation until at least next week after Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., proposed new amendments and a bipartisan group of senators urged more hearings.

"The president has basically said: I'll agree to let a court decide if I'm breaking the law if you pass a law first that says I'm not breaking the law," Feingold said.

The NSA surveillance program monitors phone calls and e-mail between terrorism suspects overseas and people on U.S. soil. News reports in December disclosed the program.

The need for Congress to give legal status to the program gained a sense of urgency last month when a federal judge in Detroit ruled that it violated rights to free speech and privacy as well as constitutional separation of powers.

The administration has appealed that ruling.