Holder plans outreach to Congress about changing Miranda rules

The Obama administration is working with lawmakers on potential modification to interrogation rules for suspected terrorists, Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday.

Holder, who has faced criticism by some Republicans over the administration's handling of terror suspects after they're arrested, said that the "public safety" exemption to the traditional Miranda Rights warning for criminals might have to be updated.

"I think we have to give serious consideration to at least modifying that public safety exception," Holder said during an appearance on "This Week" on ABC. "And that's one of the things that I think we're going to be reaching out to Congress to do, to come up with a proposal that is both constitutional, but that is also relevant to our time and the threat that we now face."

Republicans and some Democrats have expressed concern that suspects like Faisal Shahzad, who was arrested late Monday in connection with an attempted car bombing in Times Square, was read his Miranda rights and afforded traditional civil rights of criminals, instead of being handled as an enemy combatant, which gives investigators more leeway with interrogation.

The administration has, to date, defended its techniques for the arrest and interrogation of suspects, though Holder expressed a willingness toward changes.

"Well, I think a number of possibilities, and those are the kinds of things that we'll be discussing with Congress, to make sure that we are as effective as we can be, that agents are clear in what it is that they can do and interacting with people in this context," the attorney general said. "So we're going to be working with Congress so that we come up with something that, as I said, gives the necessary clarity, is flexible, but is also constitutional, is also constitutional."

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