Congressional Democrats and the White House have broken off negotiations over a legislative fix to an intelligence gap without a deal, but Democrats threatened to press forward with a bill regardless.

House Democratic leaders were taking procedural steps at midday Friday to allow them to call up a bill to revise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA — PL 95-511) to address problems that have been identified by intelligence community leaders.

In the Senate, Democrats remained divided over the legislation. Independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont, a liberal who aligns with Democrats, was voicing concerns about privacy implications of the bill. “Everything’s still under discussion,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Bush again urged lawmakers to act.

He said, “When Congress sends me their version, when Congress listens to all the data and facts and they send me a version of how to close those gaps, I’ll ask one question, and I’m going to ask the DNI: Does this legislation give you what you need to prevent an attack on the country? Is this what you need to do your job, Mr. DNI? That’s the question I’m going to ask. And if the answer is yes, I’ll sign the bill. And if the answer is no, I’m going to veto the bill.”

Bush added, “Time is short. I’m going to ask Congress to stay in session until they pass a bill that will give our intelligence community the tools they need to protect the United States.”