Allen's security tenure - it's still insecure

President Reagan has told aides he wants to ''wait and see'' the outcome of a deepening inquiry before deciding whether Richard Allen should return to his national-security post, a spokesman said Sunday.

Mr. Allen's position was once more in doubt when Newsweek magazine quoted ''a longtime associate of Reagan'' as saying the President believes Allen should resign.

In response, White House communications director David Gergen said he had never heard Mr. Reagan express the view that Allen, on administrative leave, should resign. But White House aides are not ruling out the possibility that Reagan may have passed the word privately to his top advisers that Allen has become a liability.

Allen was cleared by the Justice Department of any criminal intent in ''forgetting'' a $1,000 payment from a Japanese magazine for an interview with Nancy Reagan. But federal investigators are still looking into his acceptance of two wristwatches from a Japanese journalist and Allen's ties to former business clients in Japan.