Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Sunday the administration wants a “public safety exception” to allow investigators to question terror suspects before they are read their Miranda rights or allowed to consult with a lawyer.

Mr. Holder, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, said the law enforcement community needs more flexibility to question suspects — within constitutional bounds.

The attorney general defended the Obama administration, which has been criticized for reading Miranda rights to the suspects in the Times Square bombing attempt and the Christmas Day attempt to blow up an airliner over Detroit.

Mr. Holder said Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square suspect, continued to answer questions after getting the Miranda warnings, but that the administration had changed its position on the Miranda rights because of the “threats that we now face.”

On ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Holder said: “The [Miranda] system we have in place has proven to be effective. I think we also want to look and determine whether we have the necessary flexibility — whether we have a system that deals with situations that agents now confront… . We’re now dealing with international terrorism… . I think we have to give serious consideration to at least modifying that public-safety exception.”

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