But he told us the threat information was "nebulous."

Some urged a cautious approach to dealing with the threat information.

He singled out the center for the integration of all threat information as particularly crucial.

And, in fact, there was specific threat information about the president.

It also cited the post-9/11 environment as having led to an increase in the intensity with which policymakers review and question threat information.

There's a lot of other threat information that factored into the decision.

This briefing item was not prompted by any specific threat information.

"Typically, threat information isn't nearly as specific," one official said.

A security community and the public, accustomed to daily threat information, also will be less likely to pay attention to the specific, credible threat.

"Those are temporary changes, and as the nature of the threat information we receive changes, so too will our process."