CNN：Lawmakers in the U.S. House voted to essentially halt a program aimed at resettling thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing their war-torn homeland — a move that could potentially complicate President Obama's Middle East policy efforts.

The vote, 289-137, also reflects shifting sentiment on an issue where emotions have run deep in the aftermath of a deadly terror in Paris last week which left 129 dead. The House bill would require the FBI to create a background check of any refugee who spent time in Syria or Iraq after March 1, 2011.

The measure also called for the heads of the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Intelligence to personally vouch that those admitted aren't a threat, a requirement the White House in its earlier vow to veto the measure called "untenable."

The bill has a veto proof majority and 47 Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the measure. It is unclear if the Senate will take up the measure after they return from Thanksgiving recess.

"It's a security test, not a religious test. This reflects our values. This reflects our responsibilities. And this is urgent," Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters at his press conference on Thursday prior to the vote..

The carnage in Paris sparked worries from a growing chorus of lawmakers on Capitol Hill and more than half of the nation's governors that America could face a similar attack. The Obama administration's plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. in the next fiscal year, opponents say, opens the floodgates to people whose backgrounds have not fully been vetted, are loosely tracked and could have the intent of carrying out terrorist acts on American soil.