(Wikimedia Commons)

Rep. Justin Amash and Rep. John Conyers spearheaded the proposal in response to the Edward Snowden media leaks that incited national outrage.

“It’s about the American people versus the elites in Washington,” said Amash to the Washington Post. “And what the government is currently doing is collecting the phone records without suspicion of all Americans – every single person in America. That’s a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

The proposal was designed to restrict the National Security Agency’s capacity for collecting public telephone records and other forms of metadata under the Patriot Act.

Under the proposal the NSA would still be able to collect phone records, but only phone records associated with persons of interests in ongoing investigations.

The proposal drew sharp criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, and even a direct rebuke from the White House, which labeled the amendment an attempt to “hastily dismantle” the government’s tools to fight terrorism and condemned it as “not the product of an informed, open or deliberative process.”

The Washington Post reports the close results of the vote was something of a symbolic victory for Amash and his political allies, since they managed to rally a surprising amount of votes together in spite of stiff opposition from high up the political food chain.

“The fact that they won this narrowly means they still are worried because this thing isn’t over yet,” said Rep. Conyers about the Democratic leadership.

ALSO SEE: House To Vote On An Amendment That Could Curtail NSA Power

Email Executive Producer Benjamin Li here: