Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is opposing the Obama administration's decision to try alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a federal civilian court.

Giuliani was mayor on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists flew two hijacked planes into the World Trade Center, another hit the Pentagon and a third crashed in western Pennsylvania. He told NBC's "Today" program Thursday that a conventional criminal trial is "not necessary."

Giuliani said "there's no reason to put New York through this." He also said that if President Barack Obama concluded that military tribunals were impermissible, "I would have been in favor of it." He said the decision to try Mohammed and four others in New York sets a bad precedent.