Obama Defends FBI's Handling of Boston Case: Not Fair to Say Cops 'Dropped the Ball

WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) -- President Barack Obama is defending the FBI's handling of the Boston Marathon bombing investigation as Republicans ready for oversight hearings on the attack.

Obama tells the Spanish-language television network Univision he doesn't think it's fair to say law enforcement "dropped the ball."

"I don’t think it’s fair to say though that law enforcement 'dropped the ball,'" Obama said, according to The Hill. "I think that this is a very difficult challenge when you have individuals who are self-radicalizing, they’re not part of some massive conspiracy or a network."

The president says "there are going to be times where individuals decide they want to cause harm to people for crazy reasons, for no good reason, for ideological reasons."

Obama says the FBI "can't arrest somebody just based on a rumor."

The first of a series of House hearings is set for Thursday before the GOP-led House Homeland Security Committee.