The acknowledgment of the killing of Mr. Awlaki in 2011, and, more important, the supplying of compelling evidence that he was organizing terrorist attacks and not just preaching jihad on the Internet, was a much-needed step. The administration’s refusal to talk about the Awlaki killing and other aspects of the drone policy until now had been highly damaging to Mr. Obama personally and to America’s relationship with other countries, like Pakistan.

We wish Mr. Obama had pledged an accounting for the civilian deaths caused by drone strikes, and some form of reparations, but he did not. He should do so.

Mr. Obama did say that he does “not believe it would be constitutional for the government to target and kill any U.S. citizen — with a drone or with a shotgun — without due process.” Nor, he said, “should any president deploy armed drones over U.S. soil.” He also said that he had informed Congress about every planned drone strike outside of Iraq and Afghanistan and that he had ordered his administration to prepare a strict, written set of rules for targeted killings in the future. (Still, it was disturbing to hear that the rules would be in a classified document, not be shared with the public. It’s hard to believe that some version could not be declassified.)

In the past, we have been deeply troubled by the administration’s insistence that the review of planned targeted killings be handled entirely within the executive branch. On Thursday, he said he was willing to talk to Congress about “options for increased oversight” — including the establishment of “a special court to evaluate and authorize lethal action” or “an independent oversight board in the executive branch.” Mr. Obama said he had constitutional and operational concerns about both ideas; in the end, he may not agree to either. But at least he did not contemptuously dismiss them as some of his advisers have done in the past.

GUANTÁNAMO BAY Mr. Obama called on Congress to remove the restrictions it has placed for purely partisan reasons on the transfer of most detainees from the prison in Cuba. He endorsed the limited use of military tribunals to try terrorist suspects, about which we have grave doubts, and asked Congress to designate a place in the United States where military tribunals can be held. But he said most terrorism cases should be handled by the federal courts, which have proved their ability to do so efficiently and justly.

“Given my administration’s relentless pursuit of Al Qaeda’s leadership, there is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should have never been opened,” said Mr. Obama, who was briefly stopped by a heckler from outlining the very closure plans that she demanded.

One huge obstacle to closing Guantánamo was created by Mr. Bush’s policies of detaining prisoners illegally and using torture in interrogations. Those practices left some truly dangerous men in custody without a clear way to try them because the evidence against them is so tainted. Mr. Obama acknowledged this legal disaster but added that once a commitment has been made on a process for closing the prison, “I am confident that this legacy problem can be resolved, consistent with our commitment to the rule of law.”