Senator Patrick Leahy introduced a bill to end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone records on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

The bill goes further than a similar House measure and has drawn support from civil liberties groups, the White House and Republicans, Reuters reported.

The bill represents the latest step in fulfilling a January promise by President Barack Obama to end the NSA's collection of domestic calling records, according to Reuters.

If the bill is enacted, it would represent the most significant change to come in the wake of the leaks of once-secret surveillance programs by former NSA systems administrator Edward Snowden, Reuters reported. The measure was co-sponsored by Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

The bill would not affect most NSA surveillance, which operates under different authorities than the Patriot Act provision under which the agency was collecting telephone calling record, according to Reuters.

"This is an historic opportunity, and I am grateful that the bill has the support of the administration, a wide range of privacy and civil liberties groups, and the technology industry," said Leahy, D-Vermont, judiciary committee chairman, Reuters reported.

Leahy's bill drew praise from the American Civil Liberties Association and other activist groups because it tightened a provision they criticized in a similar bill that passed the House in May, according to Reuters.

The House bill included a vaguely worded definition that some believed continued to allow bulk collection of American records, something the bills are designed to curb, Reuters reported.

Both bills allow the NSA to request the U.S. calling data from the phone companies in terrorism investigations after a secret order of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court with the difference being that it will be the companies, not the NSA, holding the records, according to Reuters.