COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - President Bush switched to hands-on hurricane management mode Friday, pledging to keep close tabs on his administration's response to Rita and hurrying to the military's homeland security command to monitor the storm's path.

Arriving at the U.S. Northern Command in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains at sunset, Bush went straight into a private briefing on the huge storm, expected to land along the Texas-Louisiana coast early Saturday.

At the command, created as part of a federal reorganization in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Bush viewed huge television screens with a map of the storm, five-day precipitation forecast and river flooding outlook.

The president was remaining on Peterson Air Force Base for the night. On Saturday, he was having breakfast with troops, taking a tour of NORTHCOM and getting another hurricane update. From there he was heading to Austin, Texas, the home of the state's emergency operations center, and then to San Antonio, where he was spending Saturday night.

Bush had planned to stop Friday in San Antonio, but dropped the visit at the very last minute because the search-and-rescue teams he was to see there were being relocated closer to the path of the huge, shifting hurricane.

"We didn't want to slow that decision up in any way," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

The president was trying to walk a line between helping in a crisis and being seen as interfering. "There will be no risk of me getting in the way, I promise you," the president said at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters before leaving Washington.

At the White House, Bush's Cabinet met to begin an internal assessment of how the government's response to Hurricane Katrina went wrong.

The high level of White House activity and presidential travel related to the hurricane in the days leading up to Rita's landfall were a marked contrast to the period before Katrina's strike further east a month ago.

Polls show that Bush's job approval rating, already down all summer because of concern about his Iraq policy and rising gas prices, has remained stuck at the lowest levels of his presidency through the hurricane crises.

Bush said he had good reasons for traveling as the storm approached.

He said he wanted to see firsthand how the federal, state and local governments work together as a disaster occurs. In Katrina's wake, some federal officials attempted to point the blame for the sluggish response away from Washington and toward lower levels of government, suggesting evacuation orders, information and requests for help hadn't been communicated well.

And he said he wanted a closer look, from the Northern Command, at the military's hand in domestic crises.

In a speech to the nation from New Orleans last week, Bush urged "greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces" - which now are barred by law from performing any domestic law enforcement functions. He didn't specify what he meant, but some have suggested since that the legal limits should be loosened and the White House has not ruled that out.

"NORTHCOM is the main entity that ... that uses federal assets, federal troops to interface with local and state government," he said. "I want to watch that relationship. It's an important relationship, and I need to understand how it works better."

At FEMA, Bush received a video briefing on Rita from the National Hurricane Center and told employees working overtime there to prepare that he appreciated their efforts.

"I want to thank the people here in Washington who are working with the folks out in the field to do everything they possibly can to prepare for this second big storm that's coming," he said.

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But will he keep his pledge?

How enthralling, The president is actually acting like a president.

“Put you GI Joe toys down George, its time to play leader”.

I find it disgusting that some people deeply support and defend such an obvious airhead. He has no idea what hes doing, the only reason hes still alive is because every time something bad happens, he runs for daddy. He reminds me of a 3 year old, so completely ignorant and naive. The strongest hurricane ever in the gulf of Mexico, and he remains on his rump, vacationing in Az. How comforting, knowing that our strongest and highest in command, refuses to take responsibility for the biggest crisis the united states has faced in a long time. And now Rita passes through the states, causing death and destruction. And he puffs up and does his job and people pat him on the head, feed him treats, congratulate him on how well he did. It was his job! One that he never really does might I add. So why be nice to him. Its about time he did his job, and we have no reason to be glad for that. America has gone leaderless for years now. Sorry for the rant.