Hoekstra to White House: 'I will not back down'

A top Republican critic of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies vowed Tuesday to not back down.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the top GOP member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, shot back at Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan's claim that "politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda."

Hoekstra tweeted Tuesday:

Pres advisor on natl security attacking. Did it Sunday and again today. I will not back down. I'll debate their policies. They are dangerous

Hoekstra, along with Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, have complained that the Obama administration botched the handling of the attempted Christmas bombing by reading the suspect his Miranda rights, and then leaking details from the interrogation.

Brennan pushed back hard in an op-ed for USA Today on Tuesday, in which he said political critics undermine national security.

"The notion that America's counterterrorism professionals and America's system of justice are unable to handle these murderous miscreants is absurd," he wrote.

Cross-posted to the Twitter Room.