WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed emergency legislation sent to him by Congress early this morning to allow brain-damaged Terri Schiavo's parents to ask a federal judge to prolong their daughter's life.

	Latest developments Follow updates on the Terry Schiavo story from the Associated Press.

This morning's action capped days of emotional debate over who should decide life and death and brushed aside arguments that Congress was undermining the Constitution's separation of powers and the autonomy of Florida's courts.

"In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life," Bush said in a statement after signing the bill.

After flying back to Washington from his Texas ranch, Bush had waited at the White House to sign the measure which allows Schiavo's parents to ask a federal court to reattach a feeding tube that was removed from their daughter on Friday.

The House began debate on the legislation anew late yesterday, and passed the measure, 203-58, shortly after midnight.

"As millions of Americans observe the beginning of Holy Week this Palm Sunday, we are reminded that every life has purpose and none is without meaning," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., a leader in crafting the bill.

But Rep. Jim Davis, D-Fla., said the congressional action was "a clear threat to our democracy." Congress, he said, was ignoring the constitutional separation of power and "is on the verge of telling states, courts, judges and juries that their opinions, deliberations and decisions do not matter."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said the federal district court in Florida, which is open 24 hours a day, had already been informed that a petition would be filed as soon as the president signs the measure -- with the presumption a judge will order that the tube be replaced.

Even though the legislation would pave an avenue for federal jurisdiction in the legal case, there was no way to determine in advance how or when a judge would rule -- or even which judge would be assigned the case by lottery.

Lawmakers who left Washington on Friday for the two-week Easter recess had to make abrupt changes in plans, backtracking for a dramatic and politically contentious vote.

In a special session yesterday afternoon, House Democrats refused to allow the bill to be passed without a roll call vote.

Under House rules, such a vote could not occur before 12:01 a.m. today when at least 218 of the 435-member House must appear to establish a quorum. Also, because it was an expedited vote, the measure needed votes from two-thirds of those present for passage.

The House has 232 Republicans, 202 Democrats and one independent.

The measure would empower a federal judge to hear a challenge by Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, to a state judge's order that life support for their daughter be ended. Meanwhile, the feeding tube would be restored.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters on Air Force One that Bush wanted to "err on the side of life."

McClellan said the legislation was "narrowly tailored so it would give her parents another opportunity to save their daughter's life."

The frantic pace of the congressional effort dramatized the extent to which the cause of keeping Schiavo, 41, alive has become a rallying cry for anti-abortion activists and other social conservatives. It also reflected the fact that time was running out.

"We feel every moment is urgent. We are considering every second as precious in terms of saving Terri," David Gibbs II, an attorney for Schiavo's parents, said in Florida.

Schiavo's husband, Michael, said he was outraged that congressional leaders were intervening in the contentious right-to-die battle. He has been fighting with her parents for years over whether she should be permitted to die or kept alive by the feeding tube.

"I think that the Congress has more important things to discuss," Michael Schiavo told CNN, calling the move political and criticizing DeLay, who helped broker the congressional compromise.

On Friday afternoon, pursuant to an order from a Florida state judge, doctors at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., removed the feeding tube from Terri Schiavo, who suffered a heart attack 15 years ago and has been in what her physicians call "a persistent vegetative state" -- a characterization disputed by some family members.

A committee of the U.S. House had sought to avert the removal of the feeding tube by subpoenaing Terri Schiavo, her husband Michael -- who supports the removal of life support -- and various medical personnel to testify at a hearing this Friday.

When Pinellas County Circuit Judge George W. Greer refused to defer to the subpoena, attention in Washington shifted to special legislation to move the Schiavo case into federal court.

The legislation is an unusual though not unique attempt by Congress to use its constitutional power to define the jurisdiction of federal courts as a way of resolving a specific legal dispute.

The bill authorizes the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida to "hear, determine and render judgment on a suit or claim by or on behalf of Theresa Marie Schiavo for the alleged violation of any right ... relating to the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids or medical treatment necessary to sustain her life."

The bill also grants Terri Schiavo's parents legal standing to bring such a suit.