"Because there has been no consultation with Congress, we are left with more questions than answers about what the Administration has in mind in taking this step. We need to understand the international implications of the President's order, which sends a message to the world that it is acceptable to hold secret trials and summary executions, without the possibility of judicial review, at least when the defendant is a foreign national. Could this put U.S. citizens abroad, including military personnel and peacekeepers, at grave risk? We also must take care not to give the court of world opinion the impression that what we have in mind is victor's justice. We want the coalition the President has forged to remain at our side for the long term, not just for the moment. We do not want to make it less likely that other countries will cooperate with us -- perhaps even jeopardizing their willingness to turn over suspected terrorists.

"Other questions have to do with how this fits under our Constitution and legal system. The President's order covers suspected terrorists arrested here as well as abroad. In the past and as recently as in the anti-terrorism bill, the Administration has sought and Congress has created new criminal offenses specifically aimed at terrorists, anticipating that they will be charged and prosecuted as regular criminals, not war criminals. There has been no formal declaration of war, and in the meantime, our civilian courts remain open and available to try suspected terrorists. All this raises questions about whether the President can lawfully authorize the use of military commissions to try persons arrested here.

"The way this was handled also contributes to the rising concern in Congress about this administration's preference for unilateralism as it promotes policy changes ranging from restructuring the INS to eavesdropping on detainees' conversations with their attorneys to this order on military tribunals. This approach needlessly threatens the unity that Congress and the Administration have forged since Sept. 11. We are all in this together, and the spirit of bipartisanship that has largely prevailed in Congress since Sept. 11 must be reciprocated by the Administration if it is to endure."