The US spy chief has said snooping on foreign leaders is a "basic tenet" of intelligence operations worldwide, rejecting criticism of American surveillance practices.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before an intelligence committee in Congress amidst reports that the US had listened in on the phone calls of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and monitored 34 other leaders.
He played down European allies' complaints about spying on their leaders, saying they do it, too.
Actor Claude Rains played Captain Renault in Casablanca "That's a hardy perennial," he said.
Mr Clapper cited a scene from the movie Casablanca to suggest that all nations spy on foreign leaders and had done so for decades.
"Some of this reminds me a lot of the classic movie Casablanca: 'My God, there's gambling going on here!'" he said.
He was referring to the scene in which the French Captain Renault said he was "shocked" that gambling was going on at Rick's Cafe - before being approached by a croupier who tells him: "Your winnings, sir."
Mr Clapper also said the White House was informed in general terms of the National Security Agency's overseas eavesdropping, though not necessarily on the details of specific efforts.
The spying row exploded months ago when revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden unveiled the scope of the US government's spying operations.
It has deepened in recent weeks with claims of overseas spying.
Barack Obama has spoken to foreign leaders including Ms Merkel to quell the storm, and has recently said a reassessment of the practices was necessary. The president is also said to be considering whether to stop spying on foreign leaders.
Also testifying before an intelligence committee on Tuesday was NSA director General Keith Alexander, who said European reports that the US collected data on tens of millions of phone calls in France, Spain and Italy are false.
The NSA director also defended the agency's record General Alexander insisted the agency was acting within legal boundaries and operated under "strict oversight".
He said: "It is much more important for this country that we defend this nation and take the beatings than it is to give up a programme that would result in this nation being attacked."
Some of the data referenced in documents leaked by Snowden was "provided to NSA by foreign partners", he said.
"This is not information that we collected on European citizens.
"It represents information that we and our Nato allies have collected in defence of our countries and in support of military operations."
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