Amna Nawaz:

We now break down some of the broader legal questions here.

A short time ago, I spoke with three people with extensive experience at the Justice Department.

Michael Mukasey served as attorney general during the George W. Bush administration. He also served as the chief judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Jack Goldsmith served as an assistant attorney general during the Bush administration. He is also a professor at Harvard Law School and co-founder of the Lawfareblog.com. And Frank Montoya is a retired FBI agent who oversaw national security investigations. He joins us via Skype.

Gentlemen, thanks for making the time.

Michael Mukasey, I want to ask you first, the president certainly has constitutional authority to direct the work of the Justice Department. The criticism here, though, is that this specific directive wasn't about the law; it was about politics.

Did the president cross a line here?