BERKELEY, Calif. -- President Obama took a new stance Tuesday on the role of Bush Administration officials involved in the so-called "torture memos."

For the first time, the president hinted at the possibility of prosecutions, just a day after Senator Dianne Feinstein said he shouldn't rule them out.

A U.C. Berkeley law professor is one of the former administration officials now facing closer scrutiny.

John Yoo is currently a visiting professor at Chapman University School of Law in Orange County.

While in the Justice Department during the Bush Administration, he was involved in drafting the legal memos justifying harsh interrogation techniques, including water boarding.

President Obama said Tuesday he's open to congressional hearings on the "torture memos" and a Justice Department investigation.

Mr. Obama said, "If and when there needs to be a further accounting of what took place during this period, I think for Congress to examine ways it can be done in a bipartisan fashion, outside of the typical hearing process that can sometimes break down entirely along party lines, to the extent that there are independent participants who are above reproach and have credibility, that would probably be a more sensible approach to take."

Professor Yoo did not respond to an e-mail request from KTVU.

But in a recent interview, he justified the memos he wrote in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks.

"If Bush had done nothing, there would be a lot of people upset with his decision too," explained Professor Yoo. "I understand that while we were doing it there were going to be people who were critical. I can't go further into it, because it's still going on right now. I'm not trying to escape responsibility for my decisions. I have to wait and see what they say."

Monday night former Vice President Dick Cheney defended the waterboarding of terrorist suspects and called on the release of other CIA memos which he says show the harsh interrogations kept America safe.

"We can lay them out there and the American people have the chance to see what we obtained and what we learned and how good the intelligence was," said Cheney.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it's too early to say if criminal charges are forthcoming.

Feinstein explained the process this way: "We're doing a classified review. I don't want to prejudge it. Nor as chairman I don't want to say what I think until I have all the facts."

Some Republicans are outraged that the president is open to the idea of prosecuting former Bush Administration officials.

The Minority Leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, said, "The president made a big deal after coming to office about looking forward and not looking backward. I wish there were as much focus in this administration on policies that will keep us safe here in the United States."

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility has a range of options if it finds the authors of the memos engaged in misconduct.

Even if there are no criminal complaints, John Yoo and the others involved in the memos could face discipline, including losing their licenses to practice law.