Washington ? Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, standing firmly with the White House on the administration’s eavesdropping program, said Sunday he doesn’t think new or updated legislation is needed to govern domestic surveillance to foil terrorists.

“I don’t think that it does need to be rewritten, but we are holding hearings in the Judiciary Committee right now,” Frist said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Frist also said he didn’t think a court order is needed before eavesdropping, under the program, occurs. “Does it have to be thrown over to the courts? I don’t think so. I personally don’t think so,” he said.

Critics say the program, run by the National Security Agency, sidesteps the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which prohibits domestic eavesdropping without a warrant from a special intelligence court.

Some lawmakers are drafting legislation to change FISA, and Sen. Pat Roberts, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says he has worked out an agreement with the White House to consider legislation and provide more information to Congress on the eavesdropping program.

While insisting the program is legal and setting the bar high on any possible legislative changes, White House officials recently signaled they are willing to work with Congress if it feels that further “codification” of the law is needed. A White House spokesman declined further comment on Sunday.

White House officials are discussing a proposal by Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, that would more specifically OK warrantless domestic surveillance, but give lawmakers more oversight.

Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said it’s in the Bush administration’s interest to make sure there is a neutral party overseeing the program. “Otherwise, you’re going to have a number of Americans out there who incorrectly think that (former FBI Director) J. Edgar Hoover has been brought back to life and that there could be abuses taking place.”