NMAC BTWN A B757 ON FINAL FOR VISUAL TO RWY 26 AND A CRJ IN A TURN FOR A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 25L; 9 NM E OF PHX; AZ.

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WE WERE ON AN EXTENDED FINAL APCH TO RWY 26 AT PHX; AND HAD BEEN CLRED TO 'MAINTAIN 4000 FT UNTIL 9 DME ON THE LOC; CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO RWY 26.' I WAS MANUALLY FLYING THE ACFT; AS ALL 3 AUTOPLTS WERE INOP (R AND C ON DPI/MEL; L FAILED ENRTE). AFTER LEVELING AT 4000 FT WE WERE ADVISED OF TFC;'...REGIONAL JET OFF YOUR L IS GOING TO RWY 25L.' WE SAW A CRJ ON A L BASE LEG AT OUR 10 O'CLOCK POS AT APPROX OUR ALT. I REMARKED TO THE FO THAT IT LOOKED LIKE IT WOULD WORK AS LONG AS THE CRJ DIDN'T OVERSHOOT HIS TURN TO FINAL. AS WE APCHED 9 DME; THE CRJ HAD STARTED HIS TURN TO FINAL; BUT HAD NOT YET ROLLED OUT OF HIS TURN. I REALIZED THAT THE CRJ HAD OVERSHOT HIS TURN AND I STARTED CLBING AT THE SAME TIME THAT THE TCASII ISSUED THE AURAL RA; 'CLB; CLB; CLB.' I CLBED MORE AGGRESSIVELY AND WATCHED THE CRJ PASS UNDERNEATH US IN HIS TURN; AND THEN OUT OF VIEW. TCASII THEN ISSUED THE AURAL RA; 'MONITOR VERT SPD; MONITOR VERT SPD;' AND THE IVSI SHOWED A RED ARC PROHIBITING ANY DSCNT. I LEVELED OFF AT ABOUT 4300 FT; BUT COULDN'T SEE THE CRJ SO I STARTED AN S-TURN TO THE R. THE TCASII ANNUNCIATED; 'CLR OF CONFLICT;' AND SHORTLY WE SAW THE RJ WELL AHEAD OF AND BELOW US; INTERCEPTING THE FINAL FOR RWY 25L. I THEN COMMENCED A DSCNT AND TURNED BACK TOWARDS THE RWY; LNDG WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT ON RWY 26. THE FO TOLD THE CTLR WE HAD CLBED AND WERE S-TURNING DUE TO AN RA CAUSED BY THE RJ OVERSHOOTING HIS TURN TO FINAL. HAD WE NOT CLBED AT ALL; A COLLISION MAY HAVE OCCURRED. I DON'T KNOW IF THE CRJ EVER SAW US. THE TCASII WAS CERTAINLY HELPFUL. ALTHOUGH I HAD JUST STARTED CLBING BASED ON MY VISUAL ASSESSMENT; THE CLOSURE RATE OF THE CRJ WAS RAPID AND THE TCASII AURAL WARNING REINFORCED MY DECISION AND ADDED MORE URGENCY. HAD THE TCASII NOT GIVEN THE 'MONITOR VERT SPD' AURAL AND VISUAL; IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY THE 'CLR OF CONFLICT;' I WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED MY INITIAL CLB WITH A GAR; SINCE WE LOST VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE CRJ WHEN IT PASSED BENEATH US. THE CTLR'S FIRST ADVISORY ABOUT THE CRJ WAS ALSO HELPFUL; AS WE HADN'T SEEN IT BEFORE HE MENTIONED IT. I'M NOT SURE IF THE AUTOPLT BEING INOP WAS A FACTOR. MY WORKLOAD WAS HIGHER; AND IT'S POSSIBLE THAT IF THE AUTOPLT HAD BEEN ENGAGED THAT I COULD HAVE BEEN WATCHING THE CRJ FOR A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF TIME AND MADE AN EARLIER ASSESSMENT OF HIS TRAJECTORY. AS IT WAS; I REMEMBER SEEING HIM IN HIS TURN; NOT BEING CONCERNED; CHKING THE INST PANEL; AND THEN LOOKING BACK AT THE CRJ AND BECOMING IMMEDIATELY CONCERNED. THAT MOMENTARY PANEL SCAN MAY HAVE COST A SECOND OR TWO IN REACTION TIME; BUT MAY HAVE BEEN OFFSET BY NOT LOSING ANY REACTION TIME IN THE PROCESS OF DISENGAGING/OVERPOWERING THE AUTOPLT HAD IT BEEN ENGAGED. THE CRJ WAS NEVER ON THE SAME APCH OR TWR FREQ AS WE WERE. WE WERE NOT TOLD THAT HE WAS MAINTAINING VISUAL SEPARATION WITH US; NOR WERE WE INSTRUCTED TO MAINTAIN VISUAL SEPARATION WITH HIM. I WOULD SPECULATE THAT HE WAS TOLD ABOUT US; AND CLRED FOR A VISUAL APCH FROM HIS BASE LEG. I BELIEVE THAT THE SUN WOULD HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY IN THE CRJ PLT'S EYES DURING THEIR TURN TO FINAL; SIGNIFICANTLY IMPAIRING THEIR ABILITY TO SEE THE RWY THEY WERE TURNING TOWARDS; AS WELL AS US. I BELIEVE THAT WHEN PARALLEL APCHS ARE BEING CONDUCTED; ACFT SHOULD BE VECTORED TO A HEADING THAT ALLOWS SOME DISTANCE AT A 30-45 DEG INTERCEPT ANGLE TO FINAL; RATHER THAN A HEADING THAT REQUIRES OR ALLOWS A 90 DEG TURN TO FINAL; AS IS COMMON AT PHX. I CAN ATTEST FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THAT THE VISUAL CUES AVAILABLE DURING A 90 DEG TURN TO FINAL ARE NOT ALWAYS ADEQUATE TO PREVENT AN OVERSHOOT.