The Hill News

The top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee urged the Obama administration on Wednesday to "immediately" raise the terror threat level.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said she spoke to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to urge raising the threat level.

Collins said she told Napolitano it would be "prudent for administration to immediately elevate the terror threat level until we can review the materials that we found in Osama's compound" on ABC's "Top Line" webcast.

Bin Laden was killed Sunday in Pakistan during a U.S. assault. During the raid, a reputed "treasure trove" of intelligence was seized from the compound in which bin Laden was hiding.

Senior lawmakers have warned of retributive terrorist attacks in the short-term, and Collins suggested raising the threat level under the new system, which issues two-week warnings of attacks. Th! e current threat level is "elevated;" the next highest level would warn of an "imminent" threat.

"Under the new system, it's raised in two-week intervals. That would give us time to make an assessment of whether we're at immediate risk," Collins said. "Just to be on the prudent side, just for the next two weeks, I would raise the terror threat level."