diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rdoc b/CHANGELOG.rdoc
index f4180b8..1a7d829 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rdoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rdoc
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 1.1.0 (not released)
 
+* Removing "unauthorized!" method in favor of "authorize!"
+
+* Adding action, subject and default_message abilities to AccessDenied exception - see issue #40
+
 * Adding caching to current_ability controller method, if you're overriding this be sure to add caching too.
 
 * Adding "accessible_by" method to Active Record for fetching records matching a specific ability
diff --git a/README.rdoc b/README.rdoc
index b993464..f20aca8 100644
--- a/README.rdoc
+++ b/README.rdoc
@@ -39,17 +39,17 @@ First, define a class called Ability in "models/ability.rb".
 
 This is where all permissions will go. See the "Defining Abilities" section below for more information.
 
-You can access the current permissions at any point using the "can?" and "cannot?" methods in the view.
+You can access the current permissions at any point using the "can?" and "cannot?" methods in the view and controller.
 
   <% if can? :update, @article %>
     <%= link_to "Edit", edit_article_path(@article) %>
   <% end %>
 
-You can also use these methods in a controller along with the "unauthorized!" method to restrict access.
+The "authorize!" method in the controller will raise CanCan::AccessDenied if the user is not able to perform the given action.
 
   def show
     @article = Article.find(params[:id])
-    unauthorized! if cannot? :read, @article
+    authorize! :read, @article
   end
 
 Setting this for every action can be tedious, therefore the load_and_authorize_resource method is also provided to automatically authorize all actions in a RESTful style resource controller. It will set up a before filter which loads the resource into the instance variable and authorizes it.
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ If the user authorization fails, a CanCan::AccessDenied exception will be raised
     end
   end
 
+See the CanCan::AccessDenied rdoc for more information on exception handling.
+
 
 == Defining Abilities
 
diff --git a/lib/cancan.rb b/lib/cancan.rb
index aed1282..6b89243 100644
--- a/lib/cancan.rb
+++ b/lib/cancan.rb
@@ -1,14 +1,6 @@
-module CanCan
-  # A general CanCan exception
-  class Error < StandardError; end
-  
-  # This error is raised when a user isn't allowed to access a given
-  # controller action. See ControllerAdditions#unauthorized! for details.
-  class AccessDenied < Error; end
-end
-
 require 'cancan/ability'
 require 'cancan/controller_resource'
 require 'cancan/resource_authorization'
 require 'cancan/controller_additions'
 require 'cancan/active_record_additions'
+require 'cancan/exceptions'
diff --git a/lib/cancan/controller_additions.rb b/lib/cancan/controller_additions.rb
index 73e8b11..863780d 100644
--- a/lib/cancan/controller_additions.rb
+++ b/lib/cancan/controller_additions.rb
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ module CanCan
       # and ensure the user can perform the current action on it. Under the hood it is doing
       # something like the following.
       # 
-      #   unauthorized! if cannot?(params[:action].to_sym, @article || Article)
+      #   authorize!(params[:action].to_sym, @article || Article)
       # 
       # Call this method directly on the controller class.
       # 
@@ -116,18 +116,21 @@ module CanCan
       base.helper_method :can?, :cannot?
     end
     
-    # Raises the CanCan::AccessDenied exception. This is often used in a
-    # controller action to mark a request as unauthorized.
+    # Raises a CanCan::AccessDenied exception if the current_ability cannot
+    # perform the given action. This is usually called in a controller action or
+    # before filter to perform the authorization.
     # 
     #   def show
     #     @article = Article.find(params[:id])
-    #     unauthorized! if cannot? :read, @article
+    #     authorize! :read, @article
     #   end
     # 
-    # The unauthorized! method accepts an optional argument which sets the
-    # message of the exception.
+    # A :message option can be passed to specify a different message.
     # 
-    # You can rescue from the exception in the controller to define the behavior.
+    #   authorize! :read, @article, :message => "Not authorized to read #{@article.name}"
+    # 
+    # You can rescue from the exception in the controller to customize how unauthorized
+    # access is displayed to the user.
     # 
     #   class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
     #     rescue_from CanCan::AccessDenied do |exception|
@@ -136,10 +139,20 @@ module CanCan
     #     end
     #   end
     # 
-    # See the load_and_authorize_resource method to automatically add
-    # the "unauthorized!" behavior to a RESTful controller's actions.
-    def unauthorized!(message = "You are not authorized to access this page.")
-      raise AccessDenied, message
+    # See the CanCan::AccessDenied exception for more details on working with the exception.
+    # 
+    # See the load_and_authorize_resource method to automatically add the authorize! behavior
+    # to the default RESTful actions.
+    def authorize!(action, subject, *args)
+      message = nil
+      if args.last.kind_of?(Hash) && args.last.has_key?(:message)
+        message = args.pop[:message]
+      end
+      raise AccessDenied.new(message, action, subject) if cannot?(action, subject, *args)
+    end
+    
+    def unauthorized!(message = nil)
+      raise ImplementationRemoved, "The unauthorized! method has been removed from CanCan, use authorize! instead."
     end
     
     # Creates and returns the current user's ability and caches it. If you
diff --git a/lib/cancan/controller_resource.rb b/lib/cancan/controller_resource.rb
index 39bd819..83065e0 100644
--- a/lib/cancan/controller_resource.rb
+++ b/lib/cancan/controller_resource.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 module CanCan
   class ControllerResource # :nodoc:
     def initialize(controller, name, parent = nil, options = {})
-      raise CanCan::Error, "The :class option has been renamed to :resource for specifying the class in CanCan." if options.has_key? :class
+      raise ImplementationRemoved, "The :class option has been renamed to :resource for specifying the class in CanCan." if options.has_key? :class
       @controller = controller
       @name = name
       @parent = parent
diff --git a/lib/cancan/exceptions.rb b/lib/cancan/exceptions.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7166d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/cancan/exceptions.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+module CanCan
+  # A general CanCan exception
+  class Error < StandardError; end
+  
+  # Raised when removed code is called, an alternative solution is provided in message.
+  class ImplementationRemoved < Error; end
+  
+  # This error is raised when a user isn't allowed to access a given controller action.
+  # This usually happens within a call to ControllerAdditions#authorized! but can be
+  # raised manually.
+  # 
+  #   raise CanCan::AccessDenied.new("Not authorized!", :read, Article)
+  # 
+  # The passed message, action, and subject are optional and can later be retrieved when
+  # rescuing from the exception.
+  # 
+  #   exception.message # => "Not authorized!"
+  #   exception.action # => :read
+  #   exception.subject # => Article
+  # 
+  # If the message is not specified (or is nil) it will default to "You are anot authorized
+  # to access this page." This default can be overridden by setting default_message.
+  # 
+  #   exception.default_message = "Default error message"
+  #   exception.message # => "Default error message"
+  # 
+  # See ControllerAdditions#authorized! for more information on rescuing from this exception.
+  class AccessDenied < Error
+    attr_reader :action, :subject
+    attr_writer :default_message
+    
+    def initialize(message = nil, action = nil, subject = nil)
+      @message = message
+      @action = action
+      @subject = subject
+      @default_message = "You are not authorized to access this page."
+    end
+    
+    def to_s
+      @message || @default_message
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/cancan/matchers.rb b/lib/cancan/matchers.rb
index d9628bc..a71c458 100644
--- a/lib/cancan/matchers.rb
+++ b/lib/cancan/matchers.rb
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 Spec::Matchers.define :be_able_to do |*args|
-  match do |model|
-    model.can?(*args)
+  match do |ability|
+    ability.can?(*args)
   end
 
-  failure_message_for_should do |model|
+  failure_message_for_should do |ability|
     "expected to be able to #{args.map(&:inspect).join(" ")}"
   end
 
-  failure_message_for_should_not do |model|
+  failure_message_for_should_not do |ability|
     "expected not to be able to #{args.map(&:inspect).join(" ")}"
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/cancan/resource_authorization.rb b/lib/cancan/resource_authorization.rb
index fe8d22d..b11842e 100644
--- a/lib/cancan/resource_authorization.rb
+++ b/lib/cancan/resource_authorization.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ module CanCan
     end
     
     def authorize_resource
-      @controller.unauthorized! if @controller.cannot?(params[:action].to_sym, resource.model_instance || resource.model_class)
+      @controller.authorize!(params[:action].to_sym, resource.model_instance || resource.model_class)
     end
     
     private
diff --git a/spec/cancan/controller_additions_spec.rb b/spec/cancan/controller_additions_spec.rb
index 1460177..9239557 100644
--- a/spec/cancan/controller_additions_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/cancan/controller_additions_spec.rb
@@ -5,29 +5,48 @@ describe CanCan::ControllerAdditions do
     @controller_class = Class.new
     @controller = @controller_class.new
     stub(@controller).params { {} }
+    stub(@controller).current_user { :current_user }
     mock(@controller_class).helper_method(:can?, :cannot?)
     @controller_class.send(:include, CanCan::ControllerAdditions)
   end
   
-  it "should raise access denied with default message when calling unauthorized!" do
-    lambda {
-      @controller.unauthorized!
-    }.should raise_error(CanCan::AccessDenied, "You are not authorized to access this page.")
+  it "should raise ImplementationRemoved when attempting to call 'unauthorized!' on a controller" do
+    lambda { @controller.unauthorized! }.should raise_error(CanCan::ImplementationRemoved)
   end
   
-  it "should raise access denied with custom message when calling unauthorized!" do
-    lambda {
-      @controller.unauthorized! "Access denied!"
-    }.should raise_error(CanCan::AccessDenied, "Access denied!")
+  it "should raise access denied exception if ability us unauthorized to perform a certain action" do
+    begin
+      @controller.authorize! :read, :foo, 1, 2, 3, :message => "Access denied!"
+    rescue CanCan::AccessDenied => e
+      e.message.should == "Access denied!"
+      e.action.should == :read
+      e.subject.should == :foo
+    else
+      fail "Expected CanCan::AccessDenied exception to be raised"
+    end
+  end
+  
+  it "should not raise access denied exception if ability is authorized to perform an action" do
+    @controller.current_ability.can :read, :foo
+    lambda { @controller.authorize!(:read, :foo) }.should_not raise_error
+  end
+  
+  it "should raise access denied exception with default message if not specified" do
+    begin
+      @controller.authorize! :read, :foo
+    rescue CanCan::AccessDenied => e
+      e.default_message = "Access denied!"
+      e.message.should == "Access denied!"
+    else
+      fail "Expected CanCan::AccessDenied exception to be raised"
+    end
   end
   
   it "should have a current_ability method which generates an ability for the current user" do
-    stub(@controller).current_user { :current_user }
     @controller.current_ability.should be_kind_of(Ability)
   end
   
   it "should provide a can? and cannot? methods which go through the current ability" do
-    stub(@controller).current_user { :current_user }
     @controller.current_ability.should be_kind_of(Ability)
     @controller.can?(:foo, :bar).should be_false
     @controller.cannot?(:foo, :bar).should be_true
diff --git a/spec/cancan/controller_resource_spec.rb b/spec/cancan/controller_resource_spec.rb
index 64f639c..c93b055 100644
--- a/spec/cancan/controller_resource_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/cancan/controller_resource_spec.rb
@@ -54,6 +54,6 @@ describe CanCan::ControllerResource do
   it "should raise an exception when specifying :class option since it is no longer used" do
     lambda {
       CanCan::ControllerResource.new(@controller, :ability, nil, :class => Person)
-    }.should raise_error(CanCan::Error)
+    }.should raise_error(CanCan::ImplementationRemoved)
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/cancan/exceptions_spec.rb b/spec/cancan/exceptions_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6ea6b43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/cancan/exceptions_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+require "spec_helper"
+
+describe CanCan::AccessDenied do
+  describe "with action and subject" do
+    before(:each) do
+      @exception = CanCan::AccessDenied.new(nil, :some_action, :some_subject)
+    end
+    
+    it "should have action and subject accessors" do
+      @exception.action.should == :some_action
+      @exception.subject.should == :some_subject
+    end
+    
+    it "should have a changable default message" do
+      @exception.message.should == "You are not authorized to access this page."
+      @exception.default_message = "Unauthorized!"
+      @exception.message.should == "Unauthorized!"
+    end
+  end
+  
+  describe "with only a message" do
+    before(:each) do
+      @exception = CanCan::AccessDenied.new("Access denied!")
+    end
+    
+    it "should have nil action and subject" do
+      @exception.action.should be_nil
+      @exception.subject.should be_nil
+    end
+    
+    it "should have passed message" do
+      @exception.message.should == "Access denied!"
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/cancan/resource_authorization_spec.rb b/spec/cancan/resource_authorization_spec.rb
index bb21fd6..29f2048 100644
--- a/spec/cancan/resource_authorization_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/cancan/resource_authorization_spec.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ require "spec_helper"
 describe CanCan::ResourceAuthorization do
   before(:each) do
     @controller = Object.new # simple stub for now
-    stub(@controller).unauthorized! { raise CanCan::AccessDenied }
   end
   
   it "should load the resource into an instance variable if params[:id] is specified" do
@@ -49,19 +48,15 @@ describe CanCan::ResourceAuthorization do
   
   it "should perform authorization using controller action and loaded model" do
     @controller.instance_variable_set(:@ability, :some_resource)
-    stub(@controller).cannot?(:show, :some_resource) { true }
+    stub(@controller).authorize!(:show, :some_resource) { raise CanCan::AccessDenied }
     authorization = CanCan::ResourceAuthorization.new(@controller, :controller => "abilities", :action => "show")
-    lambda {
-      authorization.authorize_resource
-    }.should raise_error(CanCan::AccessDenied)
+    lambda { authorization.authorize_resource }.should raise_error(CanCan::AccessDenied)
   end
   
   it "should perform authorization using controller action and non loaded model" do
-    stub(@controller).cannot?(:show, Ability) { true }
+    stub(@controller).authorize!(:show, Ability) { raise CanCan::AccessDenied }
     authorization = CanCan::ResourceAuthorization.new(@controller, :controller => "abilities", :action => "show")
-    lambda {
-      authorization.authorize_resource
-    }.should raise_error(CanCan::AccessDenied)
+    lambda { authorization.authorize_resource }.should raise_error(CanCan::AccessDenied)
   end
   
   it "should call load_resource and authorize_resource for load_and_authorize_resource" do