Obama says he has authority for militant campaign

WASHINGTON (KABC) -- President Barack Obama welcomed the top congressional leaders to the Oval Office to discuss his plan to defeat ISIS Tuesday.

The president told lawmakers he has the authority he needs to launch a broader military campaign to root out violet extremists in Iraq and Syria, and planned to outline his plans to the American people in a prime-time address Wednesday.

"The president will make his case based firmly on what he believes is in the best interest of the United States," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

The president said he still would welcome action from Congress that "would aid the overall effort and demonstrate to the world that the United States is united in defeating the threat from ISIS."

The White House says this week's formation of a more inclusive Iraqi government is a turning point. The U.S. is expected to increase air strikes against ISIS over Iraq, but not necessarily over Syria. The administration is also working on building an international coalition to deal with the threat.

"This is a very important challenge and we have to be successful in rallying the international community to assist us with it," Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) said.

A new poll shows that 90 percent of Americans now see ISIS as posing a vital threat to the U.S. Fifty-two percent of the country believes the president has been too cautious in confronting ISIS so far.

"I'm not one of those people who is a war hawk, who is waiting to pounce and go in there and stay in there, but in this particular case, ISIS presents a problem to the United States and to the world," Rep. Loretta Snchez (D-Anaheim.) "I'd like to see the Obama that we saw in making the decision to go after Osama bin Laden."

Sixty-five percent of Americans now support air strikes over Syria. The president hasn't committed to that yet, and is ruling out ground troops in Syria, but it's clear that this conflict could last for years.

"We're talking about a period of years here," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said. "We're talking about a military campaign that will go well into the next presidency, this is really incumbent on us to act."

The White House is not expected to say how long this latest phase of fighting will last or how much it could potentially cost. It's also not clear if a vote will happen on this issue before the midterm elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.