WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday directed the Justice Department to release to the two congressional intelligence committees classified documents discussing the legal justification for killing, by drone strikes and other means, US citizens abroad who are considered terrorists.

The White House announcement appears to refer to a long, detailed 2010 memo from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel justifying the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric who had joined Al Qaeda in Yemen.