Top officials and some lawmakers say letting a powerful spying authority expire on Saturday will leave the United States dangerously blind. But surveillance can still continue.
The government says more than 60% of the president's daily intelligence briefing relies on information collected under a tool known as FISA Section 702. But Congress has struggled to renew it.
The House failed to pass a last-minute, short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire on Friday.
A measure to temporarily continue a key surveillance law fell well short of the support needed to pass, further raising the chances that it will lapse on Saturday.
Section 702 would have been extended until July 2
Section 702 is a provision that allows for the warrantless surveillance of foreigners abroad.
President Donald Trump has called for a "clean extension" of Section 702, citing the ongoing Iran war and contending that the surveillance authority is a military necessity.
Trump officials say the program is vital to national security, but skeptics — including some Republicans — have stonewalled its reauthorization without changes to protect civil liberties.
FISA Section 702 has come under scrutiny in recent years over the ability of the intelligence community to gather information on Americans without a warrant through its surveillance of foreigners.
Section 702 has attracted scrutiny from privacy advocates due to the provisions allowing intelligence agencies to store information on American citizens obtained while surveilling a foreigner, without a warrant.