Obama favors changes to state secrets doctrine

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says changes need to be made to the state secrets doctrine.

Obama was questioned at a prime-time news conference Wednesday about the claim that the president has inherent and unchecked power to shield national security information from disclosure.

The Obama administration has endorsed a Bush-era decision to keep secret key details of an FBI computer database that can search a billion documents containing a wealth of personal information about Americans and foreigners.

Obama explained that within days of taking office, the administration faced a court filing but that the case can't be litigated without revealing covert activities. He said there should be tools in addition to the state secrets doctrine.