WASHINGTON

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday incorrectly defined habeas corpus, the legal right to challenge detentions in court, when Sen. Maggie Hassan asked about the right.

During a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Hassan asked Noem: "What is habeas corpus?"

"Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country," Noem replied.

"Excuse me, that's incorrect," Hassan interrupted Noem.

"Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason.

"Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea," the senator defined the term.

Hassan asked Noem whether she supports the core protection that habeas corpus provides that the government must provide a public reason to detain and imprison someone.

Noem responded that she supports habeas corpus. "I also recognize that the president of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not," she added.

However, Hassan said that such a suspension had “never been done without approval of Congress and that “even Abraham Lincoln got retroactive approval from Congress.”

Recently, senior White House adviser Stephen Miller said that the Trump administration is "actively looking at" the option of suspending habeas corpus as part of the administration’s immigration crackdown.