Story highlights Tom Bossert's appointment also elevates an Iraq War defender, which Donald Trump has pilloried

Bossert will serve alongside retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn who is also an adviser

(CNN) President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named a former official in President George W. Bush's White House as his top adviser on homeland security, counterterrorism and cybersecurity.

Trump tapped Tom Bossert, the deputy homeland security adviser in the final year of the Bush administration, to serve as Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. Trump will also split up the Homeland Security Council and National Security Council, which President Barack Obama merged after taking office in 2009.

The decision will officially elevate the homeland security adviser post to the same stature as the President's national security adviser, a role retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn will fill. Flynn will focus on international security issues while Bossert will primarily oversee domestic security threats, the Trump transition said in a statement. Like Flynn's position, Bossert's does not require congressional approval.

But while Trump will split up the homeland and national security advisory groups, it's unclear to what extent the homeland security adviser will have a higher cachet in a Trump White House.

Lisa Monaco, the current homeland security adviser, is already a senior White House adviser and has direct access to President Barack Obama and the Oval Office, according to administration officials. But she is also a deputy national security adviser, a title Bossert would not have to put him on equal footing with Flynn.

Read More