A bill to reauthorize the government’s top power was blocked from reaching a floor vote on Wednesday by a rebellion by Republican lawmakers who wanted more restrictions placed on the FBI.

Nineteen Republicans voted against a measure that would set up a vote on the bill that re-ups the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s Section 702.

The opposition to the bill came hours after former President Donald Trump called upon House Republicans to “kill FISA” because the FBI used it to spy on his 2016 presidential campaign.

The Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act was intended to reauthorize and overhaul FISA’s section 702 provision, which allows the government to collect troves of data — emails, texts and phone calls — from foreigners living abroad and Americans’ communications sometimes get scooped up too.

The fight over the bill pits national security hawks who defend the anti-terrorism tool and privacy hawks who want to prevent FBI abuses of the spy power.

Time is running out to settle the dispute as the legislation expires on April 19.

The privacy hawks — Democrats and Republicans who don’t trust federal law enforcement — demand that the law include a new warrant requirement for when the FBI searches for Americans’ data in the FISA database.

The current version of the bill, written by House Intelligence Committee lawmakers, does not include the warrant requirement.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who supported the legislation as is, has labored to bring Mr. Trump and GOP lawmakers critical of the bill to his side.

“I look forward to talking with him about it. Here’s the thing about FISA, He’s not wrong. Of course, they abused FISA, the whole Carter Page investigation, that whole fiasco was built on a false premise — the fake Russian dossier and all the other things,” Mr. Johnson said before the bill was derailed. “But these reforms would actually kill the abuses that allow President Trump‘s campaign to be spied on.”

Mr. Johnson could bring FISA back to the floor under rules that require a two-thirds majority to pass rather than a simple majority vote.

• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.