Washington ? The White House on Tuesday ratcheted up its aggressive effort to paint its domestic spying program as a completely legal overseas national security program.

Vowing to continue to tap international phone calls it suspects are linked to terrorist operatives, the White House took issue with describing its so-called terrorist surveillance program as domestic spying.

“It’s like saying a flight from New York to Tokyo is a domestic flight,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. “It’s an inaccurate description.”

Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales defended the warrantless eavesdropping ordered by President Bush after Sept. 11 as constitutional, even though it includes spying on Americans at home by the National Security Agency.

It is illegal for NSA to spy domestically, but Gonzales argued “it’s imperative for national security reasons that we can detect reliably, immediately and without delay” any al-Qaida-related communication entering or leaving the United States.” Gonzales made the comments during a forum at Georgetown Law School, where a dozen protesters turned their backs while he spoke.

Only Americans who make or receive calls from overseas terror suspects or contacts are tapped, the White House claims. Bush has ignored Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and John Kerry, D-Mass., and the ACLU, which contend the program is unconstitutional. Bush will press his point today during a speech at NSA headquarters in Maryland.