By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Accused of acting above the law, President Bush forcefully
defended a domestic spying program on Monday as an effective tool in
disrupting terrorists and insisted it was not an abuse of Americans' civil
liberties.

Bush said it was "a shameful act" for someone to have leaked details to the
media. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said it was "probably the most
classified program that exists in the United States government" - involving
electronic intercepts of telephone calls and e-mails in the U.S. of people
with known ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
At a news conference, Bush bristled at the suggestion he was assuming
unlimited powers.

"To say `unchecked power' basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial
position to the president, which I strongly reject," he said angrily in a
finger-pointing answer. "I am doing what you expect me to do, and at the
same time, safeguarding the civil liberties of the country."

Despite Bush's defense, there was a growing storm of criticism from Congress
and calls for investigations, from Democrats and Republicans alike. West
Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence
Committee, released a handwritten letter expressing concern to Vice
President ***** Cheney after being briefed more than two years ago.

Rockefeller complained then that the information was so restricted he was
"unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse these activities." He
registered concern about the administration's direction on security,
technology and surveillance issues.

Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., chairman of the
Judiciary Committee, said he would ask Bush's Supreme Court nominee, Samuel
Alito, his views of the president's authority for spying without a warrant.

"Where does he find in the Constitution the authority to tap the wires and
the phones of American citizens without any court oversight?" asked Sen.
Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news,
bio, voting record), D-Calif., said Bush's interpretation of the
Constitution was "incorrect and dangerous."

The spying uproar was the latest controversy about Bush's handling of the
war on terror, after questions about secret prisons in Eastern Europe,
secrecy-cloaked government directives, torture allegations and a death toll
of more than 2,150 Americans in Iraq. As a result, Bush's approval rating
has slumped as has Americans' confidence in his leadership.

Appealing for support, Bush used the word "understand" 25 times in a nearly
hour-long news conference. "I hope the American people understand - there is
still an enemy that would like to strike the United States of America, and
they're very dangerous," he said. Similarly, he said he hoped that blacks
who doubt his intentions "understand that I care about them."

Bush challenged Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. - without naming them - to allow a final vote on
legislation renewing the anti-terror Patriot Act, saying it was inexcusable
to let it expire. "I want senators from New York or Los Angeles or Las Vegas
to go home and explain why these cities are safer" without the extension, he
said.

Reid and Clinton both helped block passage of the legislation in the Senate
last week.

Bush noted that U.S. intelligence agencies have been faulted for failing to
"connect the dots" about threats to the nation's security. He said the
Patriot Act and the spying program help take care of that problem.

Reid fired back: "The president and the Republican leadership should stop
playing politics with the Patriot Act," he said in a statement that added he
and other Democrats favor a three-month extension of the expiring law to
allow time for a long-term compromise.

The legislation has cleared the House but Senate Democrats have blocked
final passage and its prospects are uncertain in the congressional session's
final days. Scolded by Bush, key lawmakers reopened talks by setting out the
rough parameters of a deal: Extending the act for one to four years.

Bush said the electronic eavesdropping program, conducted by the National
Security Agency, lets the government move faster than the standard practice
of seeking a court-authorized warrant under the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act. "We've got to be fast on our feet, quick to detect and
prevent," the president said.

The president said the authority to bypass the court derived from the
Constitution and Congress' vote authorizing the use of military force after
the 2001 terror attacks.

"I can fully understand why members of Congress are expressing concerns
about civil liberties," the president said. "I want to make sure the
American people understand, however, that we have an obligation to protect
you, and we're doing that, and at the same time, protecting your civil
liberties."

Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle said he was briefed by the White
House between 2002 and 2004 but was not told key details about the scope of
the program. "Even with some of the more troublesome - and potentially
illegal - details omitted, I still raised significant concern about these
actions," Daschle said.

Daschle's successor, Reid, said he received a single briefing earlier this
year and that important details were withheld. "We need to investigate this
program and the president's legal authority to carry it out," Reid said.

Bush was cool toward investigations, saying, "An open debate would say to
the enemy, `Here is what we're going to do.' And this is an enemy which
adjusts." He said the administration had consulted with Congress more than a
dozen times.

On another issue, Bush acknowledged that a pre-war failure of intelligence -
claiming Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction - has
complicated the U.S. ability to confront other potential emerging threats
such as Iran.

"Where it is going to be most difficult to make the case is in the public
arena," Bush said. "People will say, if we're trying to make the case on
Iran, `Well, if the intelligence failed in Iraq, therefore, how can we trust
the intelligence on Iran?'"

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