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To hear it from Republican Congressional leaders, Dick Cheney, and even Tea Party star Sarah Palin, the Obama Administration is soft on the terrorists.

They point to Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab, the "Christmas Day bomber", more commonly referred to as the Underwear Bomber, who was allegedly given U.S. Constitutional protections before he could be interrogated.

In this narrative, the Obama Administration's obsession with Constitutional rights trumps all other considerations, even to the point of putting the country in danger.

While there's consensus that timely intelligence is the key to effective anti-terrorism and therefore every opportunity to question a suspect must be pursued, within the law - it is far from clear, as some Republicans allege, that the U.S. counter-terrorism forces are not doing their job very well.

So what's really happening?

John Brennan, the Deputy National Security Advisor in charge of anti-terrorism and a long-term career intelligence official that has served for both Republican and Democratic administrations, clears the record and makes an impassionate call for depoliticizing anti-terrorism policies on Meet the Press:

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ABC News reported on the tussle between the Administration and Congressional critics regarding how the Underwear bomber was handled:

...Attorney General Eric Holder wrote an assertive letter to Republican critics today, part of an apparent campaign by the Obama administration to more aggressively combat criticism of how the president is waging the war on terrorism.

Holder wrote that the “decision to charge Mr. Abdulmutallab in federal court, and the methods used to interrogate him, are fully consistent with the long-established and publicly known policies and practices” of US law enforcement, adding that the practices “were not criticized when employed by previous Administrations.”

The Attorney General noted, for instance, a policy directive issued by President George W. Bush in 2003 giving the Attorney General “lead responsibility for criminal investigations of terrorist acts or terrorist threats by individuals or groups inside the United States, or directed at United States citizens or institutions abroad, where such acts are within the Federal criminal jurisdiction of the United States.”

And amidst criticism that failed Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab was read his Miranda rights, Holder notes that failed shoe-bomber Richard Reid was “advised of his right to remain silent and to consult with an attorney within five minutes of being removed from the aircraft (and was read or reminded of these rights a total of four times within 48 hours).”

In recent history, Holder reminded the Republican Senators, only two individuals apprehended in the US were initially held under the law of war: Jose Padilla and Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri,  and in both cases such custody “raised serious statutory and constitutional questions in the courts concerning the lawfulness of the government's actions and spawned lengthy litigation. Ultimately, both AI-Marri (in 2009) and Padilla (in 2006) were returned to law enforcement custody, convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced to prison. “...