George W. Bush on Tuesday scored a ­victory in a long-running battle with Democratic leaders when the ­Senate passed high-profile eavesdropping and intelligence legislation, including immunity provisions for communications companies.

The US president had argued that the amended Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was necessary to ensure national security in the fight against Islamist extremists. Many Democratic legislators countered that its provisions went too far and objected to the way it gave immunity to communications companies that had helped US intelligence agencies eavesdrop on conversations and e-mails.