Federal prosecutors in New York filed terrorism charges against bike path attack suspect Sayfullo Saipov on Wednesday.

The Uzbek immigrant accused of the worst terror attack in New York City since 9/11 was quickly taken into custody by police, leaving many — including President Donald Trump and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona — discussing what would happen to him next.

Police officials said in a press conference on Wednesday that Saipov, 29, used a rented pickup to drive onto a bike path, killing eight and injuring 12 others “in the name” of the Islamic State.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, added that Saipov had been “radicalized domestically.”

“He appears to have followed, almost exactly to a T, the instructions that ISIS has put out in its social media channels before with instructions to its followers on how to carry out such an attack,” John Miller , deputy police commissioner for intelligence, said.

Saipov is a permanent legal U.S. resident who immigrated here in 2010. Questions over how law enforcement officials would precede with the case included where he would be sent and how he would be charged.

Trump said on Wednesday he’d consider sending him to the U.S. military’s terrorist detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, rather than having him deal with the U.S. criminal justice system.

“I would certainly consider that, yes,” he said.

Saipov would be the first new arrival at the facility since 2008.

McCain agreed with this idea, and had gone as far as to say the suspect should be detained at Guantanamo Bay. He told reporters “he’s a terrorist, he should be kept there” and also released a statement on Wednesday calling the attack an “act of war,” referencing terror attacks in Orlando, San Bernardino and Boston.

“The New York terror suspect should be held and interrogated — thoroughly, responsibly and humanely — as an enemy combatant consistent with the Law of Armed Conflict,” McCain said. “He should not be read Miranda Rights, as enemy combatants are not entitled to them.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, gave similar statements on Wednesday, stirring conversation about how terrorists should be dealt with after attacks on U.S. soil.

“Slowly but surely over time, we’ve taken the war and turned it into a crime,” Graham said.

On the other side of this debate is the thought that criminal suspects should be treated as such by the U.S. justice system, with many using Miranda rights — that all criminal suspects must be advised of their rights before interrogation — as an example. As commander in chief, Trump can classify an individual as an enemy combatant, which means he could be detained without rights granted to civilians.

It's unclear how law enforcement officials approached questioning him in custody.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, which advocates for the closing of Guantanamo Bay and has represented detainees, called the suggestion to send Saipov to the detention center “idiotic.”

“Fifteen years has proven no one will ever be successfully tried or ‘brought to justice’ at Guantanamo, and the president and his supporters within his own party are deluded if they believe otherwise” a statement released on Wednesday said.

McCain’s response to this perspective, which he gave to reporters on Wednesday is that “it doesn’t work well but it beats the hell out of Miranda rights.”

Trump stirred the debate further when he said the U.S. has become “a laughing stock” for how it currently punishes terrorists.

"We also have to come up with punishment that’s far quicker and far greater than the punishment these animals are getting right now," Trump told reporters on Wendesday. "They’ll go through court for years. And at the end, they’ll be — who knows what happens."

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin