The Senate on Wednesday failed to repeal President Obama's methane rules for oil and gas drillers on federal lands with a 49-51 vote.

The resolution of disapproval will now have one day to be reconsidered for repeal and get it to the president's desk for signature.

The House passed a similar resolution using its authority under the Congressional Review Act back in February. Under the review act, the Senate only has until Thursday to pass the rule.

A split within the Republican Party made it likely that the vote would fail. Some Republicans in the Senate wanted an assurance that the Senate would pass a bill to waive a regulation limiting ethanol use during the summer, and said they would oppose the methane bill until then.

The Bureau of Land Management rule for methane is considered duplicative due to an EPA rule already in place that requires drillers to control their methane emissions from natural gas and oil wells.

Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the top Democrat on the energy committee, led the charge to stop the GOP-led Senate from passing the measure to repeal the Interior Department methane rule. After the vote, she took to the floor to go through the history of regulating oil and gas on federal lands to show why the regulation is needed.

She said the rule helps drillers to save more natural gas, which if collected as the rule requires could provide for the needs of entire states.