MALVEAUX:  Congress is also getting in the loop in the wake of this Christmas airliner attack. Joining me now is Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan. He is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. Clearly, we are just getting this information now. You may be also hearing it now, so let me be clear about this. A U.S. counterterrorism official says that two former Gitmo prisoners are among the leaders of al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula, as we know the group that took responsibility for the attack -- for the attempted attack. Our reporting is that these two prisoners were released under the Bush administration in 2007.

What does this say to you about Guantanamo Bay and the impact, the effectiveness of having these prisoners stay and then have them be released?

HOEKSTRA: Well, I think that is a very plausible scenario, that people released from Gitmo are now active on the battlefield again. The Defense Department continues a very aggressive and active analysis of what the recidivism rate -- how many of these people that have been released out of Gitmo actually find their way back onto the battlefield? It is an imprecise science, because you know, it is hard to identify exactly where these people have gone through or what happens to them after they have gone through this program, many times the program in Saudi Arabia.

I think that the success rate of that program -- again, it's all in the eyes of the beholder -- but from someone who's concerned about U.S. national security, I believe the recidivism rate, the number of people making it back onto the battlefield, I'm very, very concerned about.

MALVEAUX: Are you concerned at all that it was actually under the Bush administration, a Republican administration that these two individuals were able to leave and essentially are a part of this very powerful, now emerging organization of al Qaeda?

HOEKSTRA: I'm concerned about whether it happens under the Bush administration. Again, they wanted to move people out of Gitmo. I think they may have made some mistakes and released some people that they shouldn't have. I'm concerned about the Obama administration, because they have taken an even -- a more aggressive approach in terms of trying to move people from Gitmo so that they can close that facility. And we're now getting to the last 200 individuals. It's estimated that 80 to 90 of these individuals have ties to Yemen. I think sending these -- any quantity of these people back to Yemen would be a huge problem, regardless of the rehabilitation program that they go through. I think many of them would find their way back onto the battlefield. I think this administration has to rethink it. And they can learn from the mistakes that were made perhaps by the previous administration.

MALVEAUX: Let me ask you, Mr. Congressman, do you believe that, as Senators Lieberman and Specter have said or suggested, that the administration, the Obama administration should consider perhaps preemptive military strike against al Qaeda in Yemen before there is a terrorist attack on American soil?

HOEKSTRA: Well, I think as you have seen over the last few weeks, there have been a series of attacks in Yemen. You can't get into the exact details as to who they were carried out by, and those types of things, but primarily carried out by Yemeni forces...

MALVEAUX: Would you endorse the idea?

HOEKSTRA: Not sure where they got all the...

MALVEAUX: Would you endorse that idea, preemptive strike?

HOEKSTRA: If it's boots on the ground -- U.S. boots on the ground, I think it's premature to go in with U.S. boots on the ground. You need to have an agreement between the Yemeni government and the American government. Rules of engagement, all of those types of things before I want to put American soldiers on the ground and at risk.

MALVEAUX: You are clearly being briefed as being the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. What have you been told? What is -- have you been getting new information today about this alleged terror attack, whether or not he was with part of a cell, did he act alone?

HOEKSTRA: Actually, that's one of the most frustrating things over the last seven weeks. We have not been getting information on the attack at Ft. Hood. We haven't been getting information on the D.C. five that were arrested recently in Pakistan, and we have not been getting any new information over the last 48 hours on the events and the circumstances surrounding the Christmas Day attack.

MALVEAUX: Who do you want to hear from, from the administration?

HOEKSTRA: I want to hear from the director of national intelligence. I was in Washington yesterday. I asked to get the latest intelligence, the latest briefings. I was denied access to that information.

MALVEAUX: What did they tell you?

HOEKSTRA: The DNI has to open up.

MALVEAUX: What did they tell you? You said you were denied access. What did they say to you? Who...

HOEKSTRA: They say, you know, there is an ongoing criminal investigation, they're not prepared to share information with Congress. All unacceptable answers. It is their responsibility to keep us fully and currently informed. They're not doing that.

MALVEAUX: What do you think of how the TSA has handled this? Clearly, they put some new rules in place saying passengers couldn't go to the bathroom the last hour or so, have anything on their laps. They have since come out today and said, well, it's up to the flight attendant's discretion. Does this look like backpedalling, if you will? Something that doesn't have any teeth? Simply reactionary?

HOEKSTRA: Well, some of the stuff that I heard immediately in the immediate aftermath seemed kind of silly. But I think, you know, some of the other steps they are taking are probably appropriate. The real question with TSA and airline security is, I don't care what they do after there is an attack. I want them to be in a position to be forward-thinking, anticipate the kinds of issues and threats that we will face and be prepared so that we won't face a situation like we found on Christmas Day again.

MALVEAUX: Congressman Hoekstra, thank you so much for joining us in "The Situation Room."

HOEKSTRA: Thank you.