--- title: Obama to Congress: Help Me If You Like On ISIS description: President Obama laid out his ISIS strategy to top congressional leaders canonical: https://time.com/3313326/obama-boehner-isis/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-09T22:32:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:31.340Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama to Congress: Help Me If You Like On ISIS og:description: President Obama laid out his ISIS strategy to top congressional leaders og:url: https://time.com/3313326/obama-boehner-isis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a0b0f8a6dfd6488/6986a296169ab0012927b155/04393008.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Obama Meets With Congress About ISIS Threat at White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama to Congress: Help Me If You Like On ISIS twitter:description: President Obama laid out his ISIS strategy to top congressional leaders twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a0b0f8a6dfd6488/6986a296169ab0012927b155/04393008.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama to Congress: I Have the Power to Strike ISIS in Syria ## Video: Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS [Watch (HLS stream): Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8) (2:58)  _Published 2014-09-05. A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?_ by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Sep 9, 2014 10:32 PM UTC  President Barack Obama meets with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (L), Speaker of the House from Ohio John Boehner (C-L), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (C-R), and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R) to discuss the administration's approach to the growing threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Sept. 9, 2014. President Barack Obama meets with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (L), Speaker of the House from Ohio John Boehner (C-L), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (C-R), and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R) to discuss the administration's approach to the growing threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Sept. 9, 2014.Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Sep 9, 2014 10:32 PM UTC President Barack Obama told top congressional leaders Tuesday that he has the executive authority to attack Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria but would welcome congressional support for his strategy, ahead of a national address Wednesday night during which he’s expected to announce more details of that strategy than he has to date. “\[President Obama\] reiterated his belief that the nation is stronger and our efforts more effective when the President and Congress work together to combat a national security threat like ISIL,” the White House said in a statement, using ISIL to refer to the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria, also called ISIS. House Speaker John Boehner told the President that he would support sending over U.S. military forces in both combat and non-combat roles, including to Syria, and training and equipping the Syrian opposition, Boehner’s office said in a statement. “The Speaker stated he would support the President if he chose to deploy the military to help train and play an advisory role for the Iraqi Security Forces and assist with lethal targeting of ISIL leadership.” While some congressmen have introduced bills to authorize the President to act against ISIS, congressional leaders have been hesitant to schedule such a significant vote in an election-year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3313326/obama-boehner-isis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3313326/obama-boehner-isis/"},"headline":"Obama to Congress: I Have the Power to Strike ISIS in Syria","datePublished":"2014-09-09T22:32:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:31.340Z","description":"President Obama laid out his ISIS strategy to top congressional leaders","url":"https://time.com/3313326/obama-boehner-isis/","keywords":["White House","Congress","ISIS","John Boehner","President Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a0b0f8a6dfd6488/6986a296169ab0012927b155/04393008.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a0b0f8a6dfd6488/6986a296169ab0012927b155/04393008.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Obama Meets With Congress About ISIS Threat at White House","caption":"Obama Meets With Congress About ISIS Threat at White House","creditText":"Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3313326/obama-boehner-isis/","name":"Obama to Congress: I Have the Power to Strike ISIS in Syria"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS","description":"A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xvTQSd5R/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-05T19:18:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3313326/obama-boehner-isis/","duration":"PT2M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3313326/obama-boehner-isis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```