Washington ? Democrats in House of Representatives on Tuesday unveiled a proposed eavesdropping law that they say gives the National Security Agency the power to target suspected foreign terrorists, but protects the constitutional rights of Americans.

The American Civil Liberties Union said the proposed legislation would be an improvement over a law hastily enacted in August because it would add safeguards to ensure privacy rights at home. But the group said the protections don’t go far enough.

The Bush administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress are now expected to tussle over the need to protect the United States from terrorists plotting abroad and the need to protect the privacy of Americans whose phone conversations, e-mails or records could be swept up in the eavesdropping.

White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said the administration opposed a “rollback” of the August law, known as the Protect America Act.

The NSA isn’t required to obtain warrants to eavesdrop on foreigners outside the United States, but it does need warrants when one party is in the United States or is an American abroad. The warrants are issued by a secret court set under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

In August, the intelligence agencies said they were missing important intelligence because FISA was too restrictive.

An important part of the problem was that much of the world’s communication now passes through the United States. Intelligence agencies said they were required to get warrants to eavesdrop on suspects who were overseas but whose conversations passed through networks in the United States.

Sometimes it’s also impossible for an intelligence agency to know whom the foreigners it’s eavesdropping on will be talking to. The administration argued it was impossible to go to the FISA court for all the warrants that would be required.

Congress amended the law but made it effective for only six months.

The law proposed Tuesday restores safeguards that were removed from the August law.