WASHINGTON — The Bush administration in recent days has been lobbying to block legislation supported by Republican senators that would bar the U.S. military from engaging in "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" of detainees, from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross and from using interrogation methods not authorized by a new Army field manual.

Vice President Dick Cheney met Thursday night with three senior Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to press the case that legislation on these matters would usurp the president's authority and — in the words of a White House official — interfere with his ability "to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack."

It was the second time Cheney met with Senate members to tamp down what the White House views as an incipient Republican rebellion. The lawmakers have publicly expressed frustration about what they consider the administration's failure to hold any senior military officials responsible for detainee abuse in Iraq and the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

This week's session was attended by Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., and committee members John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Neither Cheney's office nor the lawmakers would say exactly what was discussed at the Thursday meeting. But Cheney restated administration opposition to congressional intervention on the topic of detainee interrogations, according to a source.

The White House, in a further indication of its strong feelings, warned in a statement sent to Capitol Hill on Thursday that President Bush's advisers would urge him to veto the $442 billion defense bill "if legislation is presented that would restrict the president's authority to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack and bring terrorists to justice."

The threat was a veiled reference to legislation drafted by McCain and being circulated among at least 10 Republican senators, Senate aides said.

A spokeswoman for McCain, Andrea Jones, said yesterday that McCain plans to introduce the legislation next week.