Report: Holder to defend targeted killingâ€Ž Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at an event in Washington Aug. 25, 2011. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg CHICAGO, March 5 (UPI) -- Washington may legally kill American al-Qaida members, the U.S. attorney general was reported set to say in explaining the killing of U.S.-born Anwar al-Awlaki. Terrorists abroad are not immune from U.S. targeting simply because they're U.S. citizens, The Washington Post reported Eric Holder was expected to say in a speech at Chicago's Northwestern University law school Monday. Lethal action, such as the Sept. 30, 2011, drone attack that killed Awlaki, 40, is legal under a 2001 congressional authorization of the use of military force, an official briefed on the speech told the Post. Awlaki, born in Las Cruces, N.M., and an engineer and educator by training, was a senior talent recruiter and motivator for al-Qaida's Yemeni affiliate, U.S. officials said. An imam with a blog, a Facebook page and many YouTube videos that repeatedly called for jihad against the United States, Awlaki was described by Saudi TV news channel al-Arabiya as the "Osama bin Laden of the Internet." Awlaki also preached to a number of al-Qaida members and affiliates, officials said, including three Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers, alleged Fort Hood, Texas, shooter Nidal Malik Hasan and alleged "Underwear Bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Awlaki was allegedly involved in planning Abdulmutallab's attempt to bring down a U.S. commercial flight on Christmas Day 2009 by attempting to detonate a bomb hidden in his underwear. Abdulmutallab, from Nigeria, was sentenced to life in prison last month. Awlaki was placed on "kill lists" compiled by the CIA and the military's Joint Special Operations Command after President Barack Obama approved his targeted killing in April 2010 -- the first U.S. citizen deliberately targeted by the U.S. government. Awlaki died when a joint CIA-JSOC drone operation fired missiles at him. Holder, who the Post said may not mention Awlaki by name, plans to say the U.S. right to self-defense is not limited to traditional battlefields as the government pursues terrorists who present an imminent threat, the official briefed on the speech said. He would be the highest-level U.S. official to justify lethal action in rare cases when U.S. citizens join terrorist causes devoted to harming their home country. Holder was also expected to discuss broad new waivers Obama issued last week that let U.S. law enforcement agencies retain custody of al-Qaida terrorism suspects rather than turn them over to the military, the Post said. Abdulmutallab was tried in the civilian court system. Some Republican critics argue he should have immediately been a candidate for military for interrogation.