Washington ? President Bush fought back Friday against a Republican revolt in the Senate about tough anti-terror legislation and rejected warnings that the United States had lost the high moral ground to adversaries. “It’s flawed logic,” he snapped.

Bush urged lawmakers to quickly approve legislation authorizing military tribunals and harsh interrogations of terror suspects in order to shield U.S. personnel from being prosecuted for war crimes under the Geneva Conventions, which set international standards for the treatment of prisoners of war.

Tough interrogations have been instrumental in preventing attacks against the United States, Bush said. “Time’s running out” for the legislation, he warned, with Congress set to adjourn in a few weeks.

The president called a Rose Garden news conference to confront a Republican rebellion led by Sens. John Warner of Virginia, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine.

To the administration’s dismay, Colin Powell, Bush’s former secretary of state, has joined with the lawmakers. Powell said Bush’s plan to redefine the Geneva Conventions would cause the world “to doubt the moral basis” of the fight against terror and “put our own troops at risk.”

Seven weeks before the November elections, the dispute left Republicans fighting among themselves – rather than with Democrats – about national security issues that have been a winning theme for the GOP in past elections.

Responding to Bush, McCain rejected the president’s assertion that an alternative bill approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee dealing with the trial and interrogation of terror suspects would require the closure of the CIA’s detainee program.

McCain said the measure would protect agents from criminal and civil liability and, by not reinterpreting the meaning of the Geneva Conventions, uphold the nation’s obligations.