On a conference call with reporters, former CIA chief James Woolsey and others said Obama’s policy regarding the handling of terrorism suspects would create an opening for more attacks like those on Sept. 11, 2001.

Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s foreign policy adviser, said Obama represents “the perfect manifestation of a Sept. 10 mindset.”

“If a law enforcement approach were accurate, then you wouldn’t have had Sept. 11,” Kori Schake, a McCain policy adviser, said.

In an interview with ABC News, Obama referenced the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, and stated that it had not been necessary to put those responsible in a detention facility like Guantanamo but instead in U.S. prisons.

“And the fact that the administration has not tried to do that has created a situation where not only have we never actually put many of these folks on trial, but we have destroyed our credibility when it comes to rule of law all around the world, and given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, ‘Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims,’ ” Obama said. “So that, I think, is an example of something that was unnecessary. We could have done the exact same thing, but done it in a way that was consistent with our laws.”

Those on the McCain call said that the approach taken in 1993 is “precisely what failed,” and if the evidence used in targeting those responsible had not been under grand jury seal then “that would have given a good chance to have prevented 9-11.”

“It was a miserable failure,” Woolsey said.

In a reference sure to further rankle the Obama campaign, Scheunemann pointed to the famous "3 a.m. phone call" ad used by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) during the Democratic nomination battle as a way of painting Obama as näive on national security.

“I guess his response would be to call the lawyers and the Justice Department," Scheunemann said.