Yes, he didn't explicitly say murder or unlawful. I would have to be persuaded that there are limits to hunting down terrorists. Also Obama and his drone kill list is probably illegal. The United States deliberately target civilians in WWII via strategic bombing too.
Also my understanding is the CIA usually did the interrogation and allies often provide the dirty tricks.
There were rumors that Putin/Russia did something similar after the the Beslan School Massacre in North Ossetia. That being they went after the terrorist's families.