WASHINGTON (AP) — Acknowledging the difficulty of squaring U.S. law with national security priorities in dealing with the military overthrow of Egypt’s president, the Obama administration said Tuesday it was encouraged by a proposal from the country’s interim government to restore democratically elected civilian leadership.

While insisting that they have not taken sides in the crisis that has enveloped Egypt over the past week, U.S. officials expressed satisfaction with the plan and urged all Egyptians to take advantage of the opportunity it presents to draft and vote on a new constitution, parliament and president over the next several months. At the same time, the White House conceded it was struggling to deal with “the elephant in the room,” which is balancing a legal requirement to cut off U.S. aid to countries where coups occur and the national security importance of supporting Egypt’s military.