Mike Rogers: Obama Said 'Aloha' Instead of Acting on Sony Hackers

Outgoing House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers lambasted President Barack Obama for not taking quick action against North Korea following hackers' cyber-attack on Sony Pictures Sunday, saying his reaction was not fast enough.

"Saying 'aloha' and getting on the plane to Hawaii is not the answer," Rogers told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace Sunday. "This was a nation state attack on the United States."

The Michigan Republican, who is leaving office at the end of the year, complained that while Obama promised a proportional response to the attacks on Friday, he "laid out a little of the playbook."

Instead of Obama saying that the United States would respond, the press conference should have said "here are the actions," said Rogers, noting that the United States has "the capability to make this very difficult for them in the future."

In an interview recorded Friday and aired on CNN Sunday, President Barack Obama does not consider the cyber attack on Sony Pictures to be an act of war, but instead an "act of cyber-vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We will respond proportionately."

The hacking, which exposed Sony's financial records and personal e-mails, also included threats of 9-11-style attacks on the United States unless the Japanese-owned studios withdrew its comedy, "The Interview."

North Korea was outraged at the film which had been due to open on Christmas Day, because of its depiction of a fictional assassination of leader Kim Jong Un and its portrayal o the dictator as a buffoon.

The country has denied being involved in the cyber-attack and has said it will help with the investigation, an offer the United States has rejected.

Obama said that as a result of the incidents, his administration is considering putting North Korea back onto the United States' list of countries that sponsor terrorism, after removing it from the list six years ago.

Rogers also made a final push Sunday for a bill that aids sharing cyber-security information between the National Security Agency and the private sector. His bill passed the Republican-controlled House, but was one of many other House bills that have stalled in the Senate this past year.

The NSA is limited in how it can protect private critical networks, said Rogers, and if passed, the measure will allow the agency to read "malicious source code," not Americans' emails.

Related stories:

• Sony Hackers Taunt FBI, 'Congratulate' Its Success
• US Turns to China to Help Stop NKorean Hackers