US president says Senate's vote to override his veto of legislation would "set a dangerous precedent".
US President Barack Obama has called the Senate's vote to override his veto on a bill that allows families of the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks to sue Saudi Arabia's government a mistake.
Calling it a "political vote", Obama said on Wednesday that the bill would set "a dangerous precedent" that could put US troops and interests at risk.
"If we eliminate this notion of sovereign immunity, then our men and women in uniform around the world could potentially start seeing ourselves subject to reciprocal loss," Obama said during a town hall meeting-style interview on CNN, referring to potential lawsuits.
Earlier on Wednesday, the US Congress passed into law the controversial bill that allows family members of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged backing of the attackers.
Both the Senate and House voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favour of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA.
"The White House and the executive branch [are] far more interested in diplomatic considerations," said Senator Chuck Schumer, a sponsor of the bill. "We're more interested in the families and in justice."
The vote was a blow to Obama and to Saudi Arabia - one of the US' oldest allies in the Arab world.
Obama, who vetoed the measure last week, said in a letter to Senate leaders on Tuesday that other countries could use JASTA to justify similar immunity exceptions to target US policies and activities that they oppose.
"If any of these litigants were to win judgments - based on foreign domestic laws as applied by foreign courts - they would begin to look to the assets of the US government held abroad to satisfy those judgments, with potentially serious financial consequences for the United States," Obama said at the time.
Obama's veto was overturned in Wednesday's congressional vote - the first override of his presidency.
Fifteen of the 19 men who carried out the 2001 attacks were Saudi nationals. Families of the victims spent years lobbying lawmakers for the right to sue the kingdom in US courts for any role elements of Saudi Arabia's government may have played.
Saudi Arabia has long denied any involvement in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Riyadh strongly objected to the bill.
Al Jazeera requested comment from the Saudi embassy in Washington but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
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