ASHINGTON, Sept. 16 ・Attorney General John Ashcroft and Congressional leaders opened talks today on an emergency package of antiterrorism legislation that would expand the Justice Department's ability to use wiretaps in cases of suspected terrorism or espionage.

At hastily arranged meetings with lawmakers and their senior staffs, Mr. Ashcroft presented administration proposals that would expand the ability of law enforcement officials to conduct electronic surveillance of terrorist suspects rather than of specific telephones or computer terminals.

Mr. Ashcroft, who returned to Washington from meetings with President Bush at Camp David, said in television appearances and at a briefing for reporters that he wanted new powers to fight money laundering and to establish penalties for those who harbor terrorists.

"It's easier to investigate someone involved in illegal gambling schemes than it is to investigate someone involved in terrorism," Mr. Ashcroft said. "Telephone surveillance has been limited historically to specific telephones, rather than to people."

In an era of disposable phones and Internet cafes, he said, "it simply doesn't make sense to have the surveillance authority associated with the hardware or with the phone instead of with the person or the terrorist."

The talks at the Justice Department were the second time in days that Congress had moved toward expanding law enforcement powers ・expansions that many members of Congress had long resisted as an intrusion on civil rights.

Late Thursday, in a hasty amendment to a spending bill, the Senate voted to make it easier for law enforcement officials to track suspects' communications on the Internet without having to obtain multiple search warrants.

Today, after the session at the Justice Department, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said a critical question would be how the department chooses to define terrorism.

"There are some definitions of terrorism you would find that many on the right would be very concerned about," he said. "Others many on the left would be concerned about. This is not a question of dealing with someone who owns a gun club or is an anti-abortion protester or a demonstrator against the government."

Mr. Leahy said he would be open to revising the wiretapping laws to keep up with technological change.

Kori Bernards, a spokeswoman for Representative Richard A. Gephardt, the House minority leader, said Mr. Gephardt considered the session "constructive." Eric Ueland, the chief of staff to Senator Don Nickles, the Senate Republican whip, said, "Congress will do everything it can consistent with the Constitution to give the president and the administration the tools they need."

Privacy rights groups expressed concern today, saying they might not oppose some expansion of the wiretapping authority but worried that Congress was moving too precipitously. James X. Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a privacy rights group, said, "Despite the crisis, it makes sense to get this right."

Members of Congress were also in behind-the-scenes talks to consider how to to help the crippled airlines, and were working on an economic stimulus package that would encourage broader industry investment.

The swirl of activity showed how drastically the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have altered the Congressional agenda, with the parties' competing domestic proposals placed on hold and disagreements muted. A new set of security and economic matters were expected to become all-consuming.

Aides said this means that an array of issues that inflame partisan differences were likely to be put aside, perhaps until next year. Those issues include patients' rights legislation, an overhaul of the campaign finance laws, Medicare prescription drug benefits and the president's initiative to give religious groups a larger role in social services.

The Social Security surplus ・considered sacrosanct only a few days ago ・was already breached to finance a $40 billion recovery and antiterrorism package passed Friday, and lawmakers were expecting billions of dollars more in new expenses for reconstruction and the military.

"We're at war," Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority whip, said in an interview. "Things change. We were taking that money and paying down the debt with it. Now we're paying down the debt and paying for the war."

Officials said the Justice Department planned to send legislation to Capitol Hill within days that would cover four categories: intelligence gathering, immigration, criminal justice and money laundering.

The department is seeking to broaden its authority under a 1978 law to conduct roving searches of people suspected of terrorism, espionage or sabotage.

The law, which established a secret federal court to handle wiretap requests under the act, now allows taps to be placed only on specific telephones or computer terminals. Under the proposal outlined by Mr. Ashcroft today, law enforcement agents could ask a secret court to allow them to monitor whatever telephone or computer terminal is used by a suspect.

One senior official said the Justice Department also wanted to make it easier to detain and deport people suspected of involvement in terrorism. In addition, the government may seek to remove any statute of limitations on crimes committed in connection with terrorist acts.

One official also said Mr. Ashcroft would propose that evidence demonstrating the transmission of funds to a designated terrorist organization could be used to prosecute a suspect for money laundering.