Obama official accuses GOP of using terrorism as 'political football'

On NBC's "Meet the Press," John Brennan was asked about GOP criticism that the Obama administration was treating the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound plane as a routine criminal case rather than a terrorist plot.

Brennan said he was "tiring of politicians using national security issues such as terrorism as a political football. They are going out there. . . unknowing of the facts, and they're making charges and allegations that are not anchored in reality."

Republicans have said that Abdulmutallab, 23, should have been treated as an enemy combatant.

Administration officials say he spoke to FBI agents for about 50 minutes, then received medical treatment for burns suffered when he allegedly tried to ignite explosives hidden in his underwear. Afterward, they say, he refused to keep talking, so authorities advised him of his right to remain silent and that anything he said could be used against him in court. Since then, Abdulmutallab has reportedly begun cooperating again.

That has not interrupted Republican criticism, however. The GOP objects to the Obama administration's policy that all terrorism suspects go through the civilian judicial system.