( CNN ) -- Was the killing of Osama bin Laden legal under international law ? The administration says yes , absolutely . Experts are unsure . Attorney General Eric Holder told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the U.S. raid on bin Laden 's compound was lawful `` as an act of national self-defense . '' Bin Laden `` was the head of al Qaeda , an organization that had conducted the attacks of September the 11th , '' Holder said . `` It 's lawful to target an enemy commander in the field . '' The raid `` was conducted in a manner fully consistent with the laws of war , '' White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters . Carney declined to offer specifics , but said `` there is simply no question that this operation was lawful . ... ( Bin Laden ) had continued to plot attacks against the United States . '' Presidents Bill Clinton , George W. Bush and Barack Obama had all issued orders to kill or capture the al Qaeda leader . `` The authority ( during the raid ) was to kill bin Laden , '' CIA Director Leon Panetta said Tuesday during an interview with PBS . `` Obviously , under the rules of engagement , if he had in fact thrown up his hands , surrendered , and did n't appear to be representing any kind of threat , then they were to capture him . But they had full authority to kill him . '' A number of experts have told CNN the question of actual legality may come down to bin Laden 's response at the moment U.S. Navy SEALs burst into his room . `` If a person has his hands in the air , you 're not supposed to kill him , '' said Steven Groves , a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation . Navi Pillay , the United Nations high commissioner for human rights , told reporters she wants a `` full disclosure '' of the key facts . U.S. officials have revised their account of the assault on the compound in Pakistan . Bin Laden was not armed during the 40-minute raid , they now say , but he put up resistance to U.S. forces . The al Qaeda leader was moving at the time he was initially shot , according to a U.S. official who has seen military reports of the incident . The official declined to describe the movements more specifically . Asked if bin Laden tried to grab a weapon or physically attack a commando , the official would say only that `` he did n't hold up his hands and surrender . '' Officials earlier claimed that bin Laden was an active participant in the firefight that erupted , implying that he was armed and gave the SEALs little choice but to shoot him . Groves , citing the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law , told CNN that , based on the most recent White House account , `` there is nothing to indicate anything illegal happened . '' Bin Laden , considered a combatant by virtue of his position as head of al Qaeda , needed to immediately make clear a desire to surrender , if that was his decision , in order to avoid being shot . That apparently did n't happen , Groves said . `` The United States offered bin Laden the possibility to surrender , but he refused , '' Martin Scheinin , the United Nations ' special rapporteur for human rights , said Tuesday . `` Bin Laden would have avoided destruction if he had raised a white flag . '' Geoffrey Robertson , a human rights lawyer who has defended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange among others , made clear that international law requires any killing to be done in self-defense . If members of the SEAL team `` reasonably ( believed there was ) a risk to themselves , then the killing was justified , '' Robertson asserted . But given the changing White House account of the raid , `` there needs to be an inquiry , '' he said . Cherif Bassiouni , head of DePaul University 's International Human Rights Law Institute and a former U.N. war crimes investigator , said that the `` killing of any individual sought by law enforcement in the course of a lawful arrest is always a question of facts . Did the person resist ? Did the person have a deadly weapon ? Were the arresting officers in fear of their lives ? These are all pertinent questions . '' Bassiouni stressed that any `` extrajudicial execution of an unarmed person is in violation of international law . '' `` It is necessary for the Navy to conduct an internal investigation into the appropriateness of the use of armed force , '' Bassiouni told CNN . `` However , it is also important not to make the Navy SEALs be the scapegoats for ( any ) secret orders which the public is unaware of to simply kill bin Laden no matter what . '' Was the incursion of U.S. forces into Pakistani territory without the clear permission of Islamabad legal ? In response to that question , the U.S. intelligence official echoed Holder 's and Carney 's remarks , asserting that `` since 9/11 , the U.S. has had the authority to kill Osama Bin Laden . '' `` The operation was the subject of a rigorous legal review and was planned in strict accord with American law , '' the official said . `` As a matter of international law , al Qaeda has attacked the United States and continues to pose an imminent threat to the United States . As such , the United States may use force against al Qaeda consistent with its inherent right to national self-defense under international law . '' The operation `` was conducted under the CIA 's authorities contained in federal law , unlike most military operations which are under the control and legal authority of the Defense Department , '' the official noted . Bin Laden was an indicted international criminal who had evaded all attempts to apprehend him , Robertson said . As a consequence , he asserted , the operation was legal . Groves argued the use of the SEALs in Pakistan does `` present complications , '' though he noted that there has been a `` kind of a wink and a nod game ( the U.S. government has ) been playing with the Pakistanis for years '' in terms of predator drone strikes and other attacks against Islamic extremists on Pakistani soil . Bassiouni argued that `` the mission to capture was legal , even though there are some questions under international law about one state sending its forces into another state to kidnap a person wanted for trial . '' The issue first arose in the early 1960s , Bassiouni noted , when notorious Nazi Adolf Eichmann was kidnapped by Israeli agents in Argentina and subsequently brought to Israel for trial . Half a century later , that issue remains a matter of sharp dispute . CNN 's Richard Greene and Barbara Starr contributed to this report .
The administration says the mission leading to bin Laden 's death was legal . Comment: If bin Laden clearly tried to surrender , his killing may be illegal under international law . Experts are divided on the legality of the use of U.S. troops in Pakistan .