In Defense Of Controversial Surveillance Program, Obama Points To San Diego

When President Barack Obama announced big changes Friday to the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' phone data, he didn't necessarily throw the program under the bus.

He defended the program, specifically pointing to San Diego for his justification.

"The program grew out of a desire to address a gap identified after 9/11," he said, speaking from the Justice Department. "One of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al-Mihdhar, made a phone call from San Diego to a known al-Qaida safehouse in Yemen."

Al-Mihdhar, along with Nawaf al-Hazmi, were the hijackers manning the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on that September day. Both men were living here, making calls to the Middle East right under the NSA's nose.

AUDIO: Retracing The Story: 9/11 Hijackers In San Diego

The NSA had spotted the call, Obama said, but couldn't tell that it was made from within the United States. Hence the mass collection of Americans' phone calls began, which, in a pinch, allows the government to map and track the communication of specific persons.

The collection of phone metadata was one of the secret intelligence programs that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden shed light on beginning last summer when he leaked classified documents to national news organizations. This led to a public uproar over the intelligence agency's practices, and later prompted Obama to establish a review board to examine the NSA's programs.

The changes announced Friday are a result of the review board's recommendations.