Washington ? If House GOP leaders would allow a vote on post-9-11 legislation overhauling the nation’s intelligence community, it would easily pass, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle predicted Sunday.

A top Republican scolded opponents who worry the Pentagon would lose some of its authority, saying national security was far more important than turf battles. “There was a global intelligence failure. We can’t have a status quo. We’ve got to change that,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The Republican-controlled House will return today to decide whether lawmakers should vote on a House-Senate compromise to create a national intelligence director position to coordinate the nation’s spy agencies and enact other anti-terror measures. If the House passes the bill, the Senate will return to do the same.

At the center of the dispute is how much authority the Pentagon will retain over intelligence agencies that it now controls. The bill attempts to give a central authority more control, but some Republicans are pressing to preserve more of the Pentagon’s power.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert decided not to allow a vote on the legislation last month after two committee chairmen, GOP Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, objected.

And on Friday, a powerful Republican senator, Virginia’s John Warner, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, expressed concerns about the bill. His office said Warner was “concerned about those issues that may impact the time-tested chain-of-command” at the Pentagon.

Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va, are shown before speaking on Face

Still, with the help of Democrats, there are enough Republican votes to push the measure through the House, several lawmakers said.

Hunter, who heads the House Armed Services Committee, has expressed concerns the intelligence realignment could interfere with the military’s chain of command. He wants the bill to ensure that the Defense Department retains direct control over the agencies that operate the nation’s spy satellites and analyze that information for troops on the battlefield. The bill’s supporters say it would not interfere with those operations.

Sensenbrenner, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, wants the bill to address illegal immigration.