The commander in charge of the raid to kill Osama bin Laden is defending his proposal that would give him more authority to send special operations forces overseas to address problems like terrorism or sudden Arab Spring-style unrest.

At a rare press conference during a weeklong meeting of international special operations forces, Adm. Bill McRaven said the plan would also trim some of the limits on where and how special operations troops work. But those troops would still answer to U.S. commanders overseas, not him, and missions would be coordinated with and approved by the U.S. ambassadors, he said.

"I really do need to clear this up because there is some speculation out there, some sensationalization," McRaven said. He said his plan was "absolutely not about U.S. Special Operations Command running global special operations."

McRaven has been shuttling to sell his plan between the Pentagon and Capitol Hill, working to dispel suggestions of a power grab by the bin Laden raid commander.