Those dire words served as a backdrop for the debate on intelligence-gathering methods, including McConnell's push for expanded authority to intercept calls and e-mails overseas, as well as Hayden's vigorous defense of the CIA's interrogation program.
President Bush signed an executive order last summer imposing new restrictions on the CIA. Many lawmakers believe the agency should be reined in further.
As soon as next week, the Senate is poised to consider legislation, passed by the House, that would require the CIA to abide by the tighter rules adopted by the Army in the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
Hayden scoffed at the suggestion, saying that it made no more sense to apply the Army's interrogation rules to CIA operatives "than it would be to take the Army Field Manual on grooming and apply it to my agency."
During his testimony, Hayden said that the CIA had ceased using waterboarding nearly five years ago. Democrats who have been highly critical of the administration's use of harsh interrogation methods seized on the admissions by Hayden.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) called on Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey to conduct a Justice Department investigation into whether laws were violated in the waterboarding cases Hayden acknowledged.
Durbin also said he was putting a hold on the nomination of federal judge Mark Filip to become the department's No. 2 official unless Mukasey answers questions about interrogation methods and Justice Department policies.
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greg.miller@latimes.com
Times staff writers Josh Meyer and Richard B. Schmitt contributed to this report.
