WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Friday it will notify criminal defendants when the government has used evidence against them that was gathered through warrantless surveillance programs.

The department is undertaking a comprehensive review to turn up all cases in which such notifications need to be made, said department spokesman Brian Fallon. Attorney General Eric Holder first disclosed the review in an interview with The Washington Post.

The notifications will set the stage for a likely Supreme Court test of the Obama administration’s approach to national security, which uses the National Security Agency’s technical capabilities to gather phone and Internet data.

The high court so far has turned aside challenges to the law on grounds that people who bring such lawsuits have no evidence they are being targeted.

Three weeks ago, the government told a suspect for the first time that it plans to use evidence against him gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Jamshid Muhtorov was accused in 2012 of providing material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, an Uzbek terrorist organization.