11 , 2001 , attacks on New York and Washington . `` I hope people understand that it was a struggle , it was a difficult time , '' she said . `` We were all terrified of another attack on this country because September 11 was the worst day of my life in government -- watching 3,000 Americans die because these people attacked us . '' But she added , `` Even under those most difficult circumstances , the president was not prepared to do something illegal . '' President Obama has banned the use of techniques such as waterboarding , which he called torture . His administration released the Justice Department memos in response to a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union , and he called the legal reasoning behind the memos `` a mistake . '' Unlike former Vice President Dick Cheney , who criticized the release of the documents , Rice did not criticize the Obama administration 's decision . iReport.com : Share your take on interrogation techniques `` I have said many times that the Obama administration is now in power , and he 's my president , too , '' she said .
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the Bush administration 's policies on the interrogation of terrorism suspects Sunday , saying former President George W. Bush would not have authorized anything illegal . Condoleeza Rice says George W. Bush was clear that interrogations during his presidency should break no law . `` He was also very clear that we would do nothing -- nothing -- that was against the law or against our obligations internationally , '' Rice said during an appearance at a Washington school . A Senate Intelligence Committee report released in April showed Rice was among top Bush advisers who approved the CIA 's use of waterboarding -- a technique considered a form of torture for centuries -- on terrorism suspects in its custody . Recently released Bush administration memos showed Justice Department officials argued that waterboarding , sleep deprivation and other coercive practices did not violate U.S. laws against torture . The disclosures have led to calls for investigations of former Bush administration officials . But Rice said Bush `` was only willing to authorize policies that were legal in order to protect the country '' after al Qaeda 's September