Republicans have condemned the decision, calling it misguided, an insult to the families of Nine Eleven victims, irresponsible and more.

I would definitely expect an effort by Republicans in coming weeks to force a vote in the Senate - and try as well in the House - on a plan to block funding for any detainee transfer or trials in New York.

I can already imagine a series of ways that GOP lawmakers will try to raise questions about the decision.

Money - How much money it would cost for the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin Al-Shibh and three others? (The answer is probably more than just a couple of dollars, eh?)

Not Guilty - What if? What if? What if a federal judge throws out the case because of tainted evidence or whatever? Do these accused terrorists walk free?

Intelligence - How much information gathered by the CIA and other agencies will have to be revealed in public? Will waterboarding become an issue that could disqualify any effort to prosecute these five?

This is also a fascinating political issue when you step back and think about it.

What if one of these cases goes down the tubes? There isn't any doubt who would take the heat - that would be the Obama Administration, and mainly President Obama.

A year ago, the specter of troubles at Guantanamo seemed to be in the favor of Democrats and Candidate Obama, who were demanding that the terrorist prison at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba be shut down.

A year later, the pendulum has swung the other way. The idea of trying terrorists in the U.S. has been met with a lot of opposition and with sort of a perfunctory amount of support on the Democratic side.

Last Friday is a good example. When the announcement was made about the trials by the Attorney General, most Democrats in the Congress were issuing statements about issues like a ban on raw oysters, education policy and more, but not on Guantanamo detainees.

In the long term, this decision probably presents more risks for the Democrats than they might well have imagined.