WASHINGTON – John Brennan won Senate confirmation Thursday to head the CIA after a late struggle that had more to do with presidential power to order drone strikes than with the nominee's credentials to lead the spy agency.

The Senate voted 63-34 to give Brennan the top job at the nation's spy agency. He will replace Michael Morrell, the acting CIA director since November.

The vote came after the Obama administration bowed to demands from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to specify limits on the president's authority to order drone strikes against American citizens in the United States.