There are also questions about how the issue might affect the next presidential election, when Obama's two terms will be up. Paul has hinted that he may run in 2016. The next president will probably, at least until challenged, assume the same authority Obama has regarding drone strikes.

But Micah Zenko with the Council on Foreign Relations, an expert on drones and terrorism, cautions against too many predictions.

"This is such a fast-moving issue, and many parts are still being decided," he said.

"But I would add that if you look at how the topic played out in the last election, there was one question on drones in the third debate, and both candidates thought about it for 10 seconds and agreed they were great," he said. "Maybe next time, it will take 20 seconds before they say that."

What's the larger issue at stake?

Drones are becoming more common in general, and technology cannot be stopped, experts say. Controlling the technology and its capabilities will be incredibly difficult. So that will make the idea of transparency even more important.

There has been "a means of dealing with imminent threat in this country -- it's the police, a time-honored way of dealing with the guy who comes into Congress with a grenade launcher," said Tom Junod, an Esquire magazine writer who has written about Obama and the drone program. "We wouldn't be talking about this if we didn't suddenly have this technology ability of taking out anybody we wish.

"It's the technology that has extended the arm of the law and executive attention."

The question for Americans is how far they want the president's arm to reach.