Obama administration considers seeking congressional mandate to attack Islamic State

The United States administration is considering seeking congressional authorisation for military action against the Islamic State under a revamped counterterrorism strategy that President Barack Obama announced last year.

A mandate from Congress could provide domestic legal justification for the unlimited use of force against the Sunni Muslim group across Iraq and Syria, a senior administration official said. Congress last formally authorised such action in 2001, against al-Qaeda and its associates, and 2002, against Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein.

The new authorisation is one of several alternatives under active internal discussion as the administration grapples with whether and how to try to militarily defeat the Islamic State, which controls a wide swathe of territory between Damascus and Baghdad.

The "range of options" for direct use of the US military includes temporary authority under the War Powers Resolution, constitutional authority for emergency action to protect US citizens, and "having that discussion with Congress" about a more open-ended authorisation to combat the Islamic State, the official said.

Obama has ordered air strikes in Iraq under the first option, good for 60 days until early October. The second option was used to launch a failed attempt to rescue US hostages held by the Islamic State in Syria. The third would entail a debate with an uncertain outcome among lawmakers with divergent views on presidential powers and overseas military action. The official did not rule out immediate air strikes or other action in Syria if necessary to protect US citizens.

The recent military raid, which was unsuccessful in locating four hostages, was followed by last week's videotaped beheading of one of the captives, journalist James Foley.