The Senate on Monday voted 76-10 to move forward with legislation overhauling the rules of electronic surveillance, although it may take awhile to resolve policy disputes over the bill.

Senators who oppose granting retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that allegedly cooperated with the Bush administration’s warrantless snooping earlier this decade failed to block consideration of the bill. But they could still run out a 30-hour clock on the motion to proceed to the bill, which would rewrite the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said he and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., agree there is no need to use all 30 hours, but he said several senators wanted to speak on the measure before agreeing to proceed to the legislation.

Christopher J. Dodd , D-Conn., wants to offer an amendment that would strip the retroactive immunity. McConnell said Republicans would insist on being able to debate amendments fully, given the complicated nature of FISA.

Reid asked for a 60-vote threshold for all amendments, but Dodd objected, saying he believed that was “excessive at this point.” Reid argued that there would be filibusters without that requirement, and those require 60 votes to overcome through cloture votes.

“This is a very controversial issue. We don’t have time to have a lot of cloture votes,” Reid said.

One amendment certain to be considered is a Judiciary Committee-approved substitute amendment that would not offer immunity.