The administration claims that the bill would hijack the president's authority and interfere with his ability "to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack," said the Post.

Cheney, a long-time defender of presidential prerogatives, reiterated during the meeting opposition to congressional intervention on detainee interrogations, it quoted a source privy to what happened.

The American daily said this was the second time that Cheney has met with Senate members to kill off what the administration views as a Republican rebellion.

The lawmakers have publicly expressed frustration about the administration's failure to hold any senior military officials responsible for notorious detainee abuse in Iraq and Guantanamo.

Senator McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, has criticized the way detainees have been treated by US forces.

He, according to aides, wants to cut off further abuse by requiring that the military adhere to its own interrogation rules in all cases.

Senator Graham has also been outspoken on the need for Congress to get involved in the issue of detainee treatment.

He said in an interview that he intends to pursue additional amendments that would define the term "enemy combatant" for purposes of detention and regulate the military trials of detainees held at Guantanamo.

"Every administration is reluctant to not have as much authority as possible," said the lawmaker, adding that he has received mixed signals from the White House.

"But we need congressional buy-in to Guantanamo."

Several Senators have censured the Pentagon after more revelations that prisoners at Guantanamo were subjected to shocking torture techniques to extract information.

The criticism followed the publication of a classified Guantanamo logbook by Time magazine detailing the torture and mistreatment of Saudi Mohammed Al-Qahtani, suspected of being the 20th hijacker on September 11, 2001.

Guantanamo has been at the center of a political storm after a Newsweek report that military interrogators at the camp flushed a Qur’an down a toilet to rattle Muslim inmates.

The US military detailed on Friday, June 3, five cases in which American jailers at Guantanamo had desecrated copies of the Noble Qur’an, including one incident which occurred as recently as March.