Lawmakers wrestle with Obama drone program

>>> two senate committees now plan to hold hearings because of the growing controversy over president obama 's unmanned drone program. it's the democrats who are worried about the balance between security and civil liberties while the president's program is getting support from a top house republican.

>> i believe just as in the prior administration, this administration we can strike that balance to protect america, to employ technologies to do that at the same time upholding constitutional rights .

>> we are at a different kind of war. we're not sending troops or manned bombers. we're dealing with the enemy where we find them to keep america safe. we can strike a new constitutional balance with the challenges we face today.

>> president obama 's use of unmanned drones to target is a continuation of bush era policies, but the attacks have ballooned. let's bring in chip, and margie omera. good more. margie , house majority leader eric cantor is supporting the program, yet you have democrats, including senator dick durbin , and others who are uneasy about it. when it comes to protecting the u.s., is president obama closer to george w. bush --

>> i don't think so. what you see is safeguards. former secretary robert gates saying we should have a core court going forward to make sure that we're -- that we're following procedure. you have brennan say in his hearing if we miss a target we should disclose it. that all represents a very different tone from what you saw under the bush administration , one of trying to have a procedure and openness and transparency and bringing everybody together to try to agree on how we balance security and privacy.

>> the chairman of the intelligent committee says there's no need. let me play that.

>> there is plenty of oversight here. there's not an american list somewhere overseas for targeting. that does not exist. i think there's sensationalism. this is a serious matter, but i think the rules have been consistent.

>> chip, as you know, the act established ' federal court that oversees suspected foreign spies working in the u.s., so the question that's being debated is should there be a fisa-like legal check on drone use.

>> i think this is an issue that changes every day. we've seen it change from the bush administration to the obama administration. what we had to deal with every day with new technologies and new ways of terrorism changes every day. i think there's enough oversight. at the end of the dame we have to support the commander in chief to make these decisions. i think that's going to be a very big challenge for not only this president, but the next several presidents. this is how we fight wars now. not with thousands of soldiers on the battlefield. we do it by computers and technology and drones. this will be a challenge going forwardivities understanding the ground is constantly shifting, some republicans and conservatives have accused the president of big hypocrite cal. let me read from a recent " wall street journal " editorial. i'm going to quote here -- you may recall that mr. obama and eric holder , before he became attorney general, denounced the olc memos that explained why waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques were illegal. yes, it merely blows them away with missiles from the sky. margie , do they have a point? is there some level of hypocrisy at work here?

>> no, there's not. former secretary gates said the procedures of the administration were following were secure, were strong, and i trust the president, i trust our procedures. i also, if you look at public opinion . it shows that overwhelmingly people support the use here. a year ago polls show 83% of people support it. a couple days ago, 6:1 people support it. i think the issues going forward is having some increased openness. i think that's something you're seeing the administration, democratic senators, seeing lots of folks saying we're going to do that, that's a good procedure, you can implement that going forward.

>> i wonder, chip, how much it does have an impact, and i would be interested to get your take and what you think will happen. we'll have these hearings, do you think there eventually will be oversight?

>> first of all, these decisions are very tough, when you're in the room with intelligence that the general public doesn't see and most of the time they have no concept of, i think it's very easy to criticize these issues. when you're running for president, it's a whole different situation. i think you might see some degree of oversight change, but at the end of the day this is an executive issue. we know some of these decisions will be tough and i think that --

>> thank you both of you.