A defiant US Secretary of State has faced tough questioning in Congress over security failings that led to the deaths of four Americans in an attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi.

At one point Hillary Clinton fought back tears as she described meeting the families of the dead, who included the US ambassador to Libya.

She angrily defended her department's record, blaming Congress for a lack of funding to protect US embassies around the world. Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan reports from Capitol Hill.