OLYMPIA, Wash. – Gov. Christine Gregoire is announcing legislation Monday afternoon allowing Washington law enforcement to set up sobriety checkpoints to crack down on drunk drivers.

"I want to give law enforcement every opportunity available in their war chest so we don't have any more lives lost," said Gregoire.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving welcomes the idea. Its latest state progress report ranks Washington 40th among 50 states in combating drunk driving. MADD gets its ranking in part because the state had 225 drunken driving fatalities in 2006, and specifically, it cites Washington as one of eleven states which cannot do sobriety checkpoints.

DUI defense attorney Francisco Duarte is among the idea's critics. He says the state should first consider a zero tolerance law for drinking and driving which exists in some European countries, rather than sobriety checkpoints.

"What the governor is trying to do now to fix this problem is to limit the right people have by allowing the police with justification to invade their privacy in their vehicles. That's the wrong solution to the problem," said Duarte.

To satisfy the state's constitution, the new proposal requires a jurisdiction to first apply for a warrant. The application must spell out specific locations that have had a high number of dui crashes. Also, a city, a county or the state patrol must advertise the checkpoint.

KING 5's Chris Daniels and Bernard Choi contributed to this report.