Some key Republicans say they may not stand in the way of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice becoming the next secretary of state if President Obama nominates her.

Republicans have been highly critical of Rice's early explanation of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya when she blamed it on an anti-Islamic video rather than terrorism.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Rice should be able to tell her side of the story and that the real question is why the attack happened at all.

"But, the biggest aspect of the whole thing is, it has to be really looked into is, why there was such a failure on the part of the administration in light of events, the attack -- the two attacks on our embassy, the assassination attempt on the British ambassador. They closed their consul," McCain said.

"All these long train of events that made our consulate in Benghazi a death trap," he continued. "And then during that, why didn't we have military capabilities close by, especially on September 11th?"

Other Republicans say if Rice is nominated, she'll face serious questions about the Benghazi attack and other events.