Granting doctors more power to evacuate asylum seekers out of offshore detention facilities would jeopardise national security, the federal government has warned.

Independent MP Dr Kerryn Phelps has introduced legislation into Federal Parliament to scale back the power of any immigration minister to deny requests from treating doctors to transfer patients to the mainland.

The bill, which has passed the Senate and is due to go before the House of Representatives when it returns next Tuesday, has the backing of Labor, the Greens and other independents, and comes after a long campaign by medical groups, including the AMA.

If it passes, the minister would be required to consider any transfer request within 24 hours so long as it was signed off by two doctors.