WASHINGTON, D.C. — Legislation authorizing a key surveillance tool used by the nation’s spy agencies is up for renewal, triggering a fierce debate in Congress about whether it should be overhauled or even allowed to expire.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, was created after 9/11 to monitor foreign terrorists.

The law has become controversial because the surveillance can result in the government collecting the phone calls, emails and texts of American citizens communicating with a foreign target.

Lawmakers in both parties have said the intelligence community has abused the powers granted in Section 702 to spy on Americans.

On Friday House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote a Dear Colleague letter urging Republicans to pass the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, or RISA, to replace FISA.

“FISA and Section 702 have been essential to intercepting communications of dangerous foreign actors overseas, understanding the threats against our country, countering our adversaries, and saving countless American lives,” Johnson wrote in the letter. “However… the FBI terribly abused the FISA authority in recent years, and in turn, violated the trust and confidence of the American people. Our responsibility now is simple: maintain the tool but strictly prohibit future abuses.”

RISA reforms include cutting the number of FBI personnel authorized to approve warrantless searches on U.S. citizens and requiring independent audits of those searches.

Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said in a Sunday State of the Union interview that he was confident RISA would pass because it reined in spy power abuses while protecting Americans’ privacy.

“Those individuals who say that this is a warrantless search of Americans’ data are just not telling the truth. These are foreigners abroad. They’re a select group of individuals who are a national security threat,” Turner said. “If you’re an American and you’re corresponding with ISIS, yes, if we’re spying on ISIS, your communications are going to be captured.”

But an influential faction of conservatives, including Freedom Caucus members Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said the bill didn’t go far enough. They wanted a measure that would end all warrantless searches. Jordan, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, helped advance one such bill, the Protect Liberty Act, which passed out of committee in December but has not been brought to a vote in the House.

“There are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of targets our government has that they’re surveilling,” Jordan said at a February hearing. “All we’re saying is that if you’re going to do that on an American, go get a warrant, which the ranking member rightly pointed out, happens every stinking day in this country.”

Davidson said he was also concerned RISA did not close loopholes related to data brokers. Currently anyone can purchase individuals’ data without a warrant.

“When private sector people buy this, I’d like to rein that in, too. But the consequences of federal agencies doing it—these are people that can put you in jail,” Davidson said. “There’s supposed to be a limitation on what the federal government can do for a reason. That’s the point of the Fourth Amendment.”

Davidson called for debate and a recorded vote on a bill that would remove warrantless searches from any FISA reauthorization.

House members are schedule for a classified FISA briefing from the intelligence community on Wednesday.

A vote could come as soon as next week as lawmakers race to renew FISA before it expires on April 19.