Maine’s two U.S. senators said Thursday’s federal court ruling questioning the legality of the National Security Agency’s collection of massive troves of phone data underscores the need for Congress to update the law.

Neither Republican Sen. Susan Collins nor independent Sen. Angus King explicitly said whether they agreed or disagreed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which ruled that the data collection program violates the Patriot Act passed after the September 2001 terrorist attacks. But both said they believe additional reforms are needed to protect citizens’ privacy rights.

King and Collins serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee that oversees foreign and domestic intelligence programs. Both joined in 2013, well after the NSA program had begun.

Collins defended the privacy measures built into the federal law, calling it “an indispensable tool for our intelligence and law enforcement agencies.”

But she also cautioned that “the laws governing intelligence activities do, however, need to be updated to reflect current technology, and I support legislation to increase oversight of the NSA’s activities. In the coming weeks, I will carefully consider the reauthorization proposal and any modifications offered.”

King said Thursday’s ruling and those that preceded it underscore “the urgency for Congress to act” on the issue.

“The Senate will soon be debating the future of the program, and I believe we should consider reforms that safeguard the rights of American citizens while still ensuring that our government has the necessary and appropriate tools to defend against acts of terrorism,” King said in a statement.

Both Collins and King have criticized former NSA contractor Edward Snowden for releasing troves of documents detailing the metadata collection and other programs. Collins has been especially critical of Snowden, citing statements from top defense and intelligence officials that Snowden’s revelations undermined surveillance programs and potentially threatened the safety of U.S. troops.

Collins also has defended the NSA’s domestic collection programs by pointing out that the metadata are composed of raw phone call records and that intelligence agencies need a warrant to listen to conversations.

King also has expressed reservations about aspects of the NSA program.

At the height of the controversy over the Snowden revelations in the summer of 2013, King voiced concerns about the NSA or other federal agencies maintaining a massive database of phone records even if no call content was collected. Instead, King has argued that the records could be held by the phone companies and intelligence agencies should be required to notify Congress whenever they access the metadata.

“The principle should be: don’t put too much power in the hands of the government because it can and probably at some point will be abused,” King told MSNBC in June 2013.

Both King and Collins also have proposed allowing the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court – the secret panel that reviews government requests for electronic surveillance or physical searches – to consult with approved outside experts when dealing with new or complicated legal questions.