Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the Bush administration's domestic spying program against criticism by U.S. senators, calling it a legal tool needed to help stop al-Qaeda from attacking the nation again.

``It is the modern equivalent to a scout team sent ahead to do reconnaissance or a series of radar outposts designed to detect enemy movements,'' Gonzales said today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. ``As with all wartime operations, speed, agility and secrecy are essential to its success.''

Gonzales faces his biggest challenge yet as the top U.S. law enforcement officer in trying to justify the National Security Agency program that monitors phone calls and e-mails between people in the U.S. and suspected terrorists overseas. The warrantless eavesdropping drew fire from both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate committee.

Gonzales defended the legality of the surveillance without discussing its classified operational details. The committee's Republican chairman, Arlen Specter, and Democratic members have said the wiretapping may violate federal law.

``Nobody is above the law, not even the president of the United States,'' said the committee's ranking Democrat, Patrick Leahy of Vermont. ``This is against the law.''

`Blank Check'

Specter also said he was skeptical about the program even amid continuing threats from the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

``The president of the United States has the fundamental responsibility to protect the country,'' Specter said. ``The president does not have a blank check.''

President George W. Bush confirmed the existence of the spying after the New York Times disclosed it in December. Last week, Bush said in his State of the Union address that the program is essential to U.S. security.

``To end the program now would be to afford our enemy dangerous and potentially deadly new room for operation within our own borders,'' Gonzales said today.

Critics say the domestic spying violates the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which created a special court to authorize domestic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes. They are also concerned about what they call a move by the Bush administration to expand the powers of the presidency at the expense of Congress and the courts.

`Slippery Slope'

Leahy asked Gonzales if intelligence officers had the authority to open first-class mail, and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California asked if the Bush administration had other secret programs. Gonzales said he couldn't comment on hypothetical questions.

``This administration is effectively saying -- and the attorney general has said it today -- it doesn't have to follow the law,'' Feinstein said. ``This is a slippery slope.''

Gonzales, the only witness at today's hearing, argued that Congress gave Bush the power to order wiretapping without a warrant when it authorized the use of military force to combat terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks. That argument drew disagreement from several senators on the committee.

``The statutory force resolution argument that you're making is very dangerous in terms of its application for the future,'' said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican. ``I never envisioned that I was giving to this president or any other president the ability to go around'' the special court, he said.

`On Board'

Senators Edward Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Mike DeWine, a Republican from Ohio, said they were concerned that Bush didn't seek Congress's backing for the program first.

``This country would be stronger and the president would be stronger if he did so,'' DeWine said.

Gonzales told the senators that the administration didn't need Congress's approval because it had the authority and historical precedents needed to pursue it. He said the program is not domestic spying because it has to have an international element and suspicion of a link to al-Qaeda.

``The terrorist surveillance program is lawful,'' Gonzales said. ``Presidents throughout our history have authorized the warrantless surveillance of the enemy during wartime. And they have done so in ways far more sweeping than the narrowly targeted terrorist surveillance program authorized by President Bush.''

In response to questioning by Senator Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, Gonzales said he couldn't offer absolute assurance that no abuses of the program had occurred.

``We have a number of safeguards in place,'' Gonzales said. ``The people that are making the decision about whether surveillance should occur are people who are experts with regard to al-Qaeda.''

`Innocent People'

Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin told the attorney general he was concerned that ``no one's looking over your shoulder'' to protect ``innocent people who wonder if you're going too far.''

``This is a very narrowly tailored program,'' said Gonzales.

``How do I know that?'' Durbin responded.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that about 5,000 people in the last four years have had their communications monitored by U.S. intelligence, citing an unidentified knowledgeable source. Almost all of them have been cleared of being potential terrorist threats, the newspaper said.

Gonzales got some support from Republican members of the committee, including Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. Hatch said legal precedents backed the Bush administration's position.

``People who are wildly saying the president is ignoring the law are ignoring all these cases that say that -- or at least imply that -- he has the inherent power to be able to do what he should to protect our nation during a time of war,'' Hatch said.

Specter has said he plans one or two more sessions in the coming weeks to examine other aspects of the surveillance. The Senate's intelligence committee is planning to hold a closed hearing on the program Feb. 9.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington kjensen@bloomberg.net; Nicholas Johnston on Capitol Hill at njohnston3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 6, 2006 17:31 EST