Senate delays vote on NSA phone records dragnet

A controversial program allowing the U.S. National Security Agency to collect millions of domestic telephone records expired Sunday night after the Senate failed to vote on a bill to extend the authority for the surveillance.

The Senate, meeting on Sunday as provisions of the counterterrorism Patriot Act were hours from expiring, voted on a so-called cloture to limit debate and move toward a vote on the USA Freedom Act, a bill that would rein in the NSA’s bulk collection of U.S. telephone records while allowing the agency to collect records in a more targeted manner.

The 77-17 vote for cloture on the USA Freedom Act sets up a final vote on the bill, but the Senate isn’t likely to take action before Tuesday.

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