WASHINGTON — Vice President Cheney prodded Congress yesterday to extend and broaden an expiring surveillance law, saying “fighting the war on terror is a long-term enterprise” that should not come with an expiration date. “We’re reminding Congress that they must act now,” Mr. Cheney told the Heritage Foundation think tank. The law, which authorizes the administration to eavesdrop on phone calls and see the email to and from suspected terrorists, expires on February 1. Congress is bickering over terms of its extension.

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked an effort by the majority leader, Senator Reid, to extend the stopgap Protect America Act without expanding it, raising stakes for an expected showdown this week on a new version of the law.

“This cause is bigger than the quarrels of party and the agendas of politicians,” Mr. Cheney said. “And if we in Washington, all of us, can only see our way clear to work together, then the outcome should not be in doubt.”

Congress hastily adopted the stopgap act last summer in the face of warnings from the administration about dangerous gaps in the government’s ability to gather intelligence in the Internet age.

Administration allies in Congress not only want the expiring law made permanent but amended to give telephone companies and other communications providers immunity from being sued for helping the government eavesdropping and other intelligence-gathering efforts. Mr. Cheney said such providers “face dozens of lawsuits.”

“The intelligence community doesn’t have the facilities to carry out the kind of international surveillance needed to defend this country since 9/11. In some situations, there is no alternative to seeking assistance from the private sector. This is entirely appropriate,” Mr. Cheney said.