The French cabinet backed reform proposals Wednesday that could see the state of emergency called after last month's Paris attacks enshrined in the constitution.
Special policing powers used under the state of emergency -- such as house arrests and the right to raid houses without judicial oversight -- are currently based on an ordinary law which can be challenged at the constitutional court.
In the wake of the Paris attacks that left 130 dead, President Francois Hollande called for the emergency powers to be protected from litigation by placing them in the constitution.
"The threat has never been higher," Prime Minister Manuel Valls told reporters following a meeting of government ministers on Wednesday.
The constitutional reforms must now be passed by a three-fifths majority in the upper and lower houses of parliament, where debates will start on February 3.
