1. The President does have the constitutional authority to call congress into session if he feels it is important.
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/...raSessions.pdf
2. Congress is asking for action and plans despite on recess.
"In the wake of ISIS’s latest alleged killing of an American journalist, leading lawmakers from both parties are calling for a bigger role in the U.S. war against the terrorist group.
Leading lawmakers in charge of foreign policy reacted Tuesday to the reported beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff by increasing their calls for more congressional involvement and oversight of President Obama’s war on ISIS.
The latest apparent ISIS atrocity against an American citizen added to the congressional anger at the Obama administration for what many critics call an incomplete and unclear plan to confront the group both in Iraq and Syria, ....."
After Steven Sotloff Murder, Congress Demands a Vote on Obama
I, frankly, support the President insuring a master plan is together....that is based on the premise that he will have a plan to first of all as is his JOB....secure the borders here to insure the threat does not reach our shores. This is his first and primary job and it concerns me greatly that there is no more said about this.
Also,
despite those who professed here yesterday that the middle east and Iraq specifically was a calm nice place prior to our invasion of 2003, this violence in the area has been going on for centuries......Iraq has invaded countries, used gas on its citizens, etc well before we even saw the lights of Baghdad. Syria has been killing its own children for years now. Point is that this violence is not new and our threats are not going to scare anyone away.
Secure our country first in a serious and meaningful way and do it so everyone is aware we are doing it.
Then come together and decide even though it will not get votes, the best thing FOR OUR COUNTRY is a long term commitment of some kind to insure that these radical groups cannot get a foothold. As I said many times...we live in a very small world now, and the protection of our country is now something that does not stop at our borders.
In my opinion, we cannot walk away from this. This region has been bloody and dangerous for so many years.....we need a presence there, even if we do not like that idea. Our absence is, has, will cause so many vacuums for these groups to fill that it will become so much more dangerous. And, trust me...these groups WILL COME HERE FIRST CHANCE. If you do not believe that....if you believe we can live in this modern world as on an island, well.....I just do not know what to say.
This being added later...the above is long term and must be supplemented by saying that we need to raise h.ll at the UN..I am not speaking of making statements but a real firestorm of demands for action. The support I give to the President is on the assumption he is putting together a coalition much like we did when Iraq invaded Kuwait and President GW Bush was able to put together a coalition. This particular coalition will require a lot more freedom of action and thus becomes a bit more difficult.
In the mean time...use the allowance in Iraq to bomb whatever ISIS locations into obliviion. Get Iraq back under control and then concentrate on Syria, which is much more tricky at this point.