Five years ago, President Obama gave the order for U.S. Navy SEALs to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. It was a legacy-defining decision for the president, which has also changed the global war on terrorism. President Obama is sharing new insights about the raid, which killed the architect of the September 11 attacks. Our Washington, D.C. bureau reporter Geoff Bennett has the details.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States government vowed to hunt down Osama bin Laden. He was the ringleader behind the atrocities, which killed nearly 3,000 innocent people.

Tracking him down would take ten years and the efforts of two presidents.

"I can report the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda," Obama said during a nationally televised address on May 1, 2011.

We would later learn from government accounts about how the daring operation unfolded. U.S. helicopters carrying Navy SEALs landed outside the walled compound in Pakistan that served as bin Laden's final hideout.

Under the cover of darkness, the SEAL team stormed the sprawling residence, ultimately discovering bin Laden and shooting him dead — all in less than 40 minutes.

A now famous photo captured the president and his national security team monitoring the mission from the White House situation room.

In a recent interview with CNN, the president explained why he launched the raid when he did.

"It was clear to me that— this was gonna be our best chance to get bin Laden," Obama told CNN. "That if, in fact, we did not take the action that he might slip away. And it might be years before he resurfaced."

In the years following bin Laden's death, his al Qaeda terrorist network has seen its reach and relevance surpassed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

"Al Qaeda has lost of lot influence," said Rebecca Zimmerman, an associate policy analyst with the RAND Corporation. "It's lost a lot of, you could say, market share. It's no longer the terrorist network of choice."

Less relevant but no less dangerous — as both terror networks shift strategies and change tactics.

"Who they’re recruiting, how they’re recruiting and how they’re allowing them to operate," Zimmerman said. "That’s changing. It's changed a lot since 9/11, and it’s changed a lot in the five years since Osama bin Laden was killed."