Obama re-ups call for ISIS war authorization

President Obama uses part of his State of the Union address Tuesday to once again push Congress to pass an authorization for the use of military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“If this Congress is serious about winning this war and wants to send a message to our troops and the world, you should finally authorize the use of military force against ISIL,” he will say, according to prepared remarks released by the White House. “Take a vote.”

ISIL is the administration’s preferred acronym for terrorist organization.

{mosads}It’s a call Obama has made repeatedly. Last February, the White House forwarded a draft proposal to lawmakers, but Republicans panned it as too restrictive and Democrats as not restrictive enough.

Some progress has been made in the House recently, as the House Republicans began listening sessions last week to gauge what they would want in a new authorization for the use of military force (AUMF).

But a new AUMF appears doomed in the Senate, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told ABC News on Sunday he wouldn’t take up a new AUMF that ties the hands of the next president.

Despite his desire for an AUMF, Obama will say America will go after ISIS with or without it.

“But the American people should know that with or without Congressional action, ISIL will learn the same lessons as terrorists before them,” he will say.

“If you doubt America’s commitment — or mine — to see that justice is done, ask Osama bin Laden. Ask the leader of al Qaeda in Yemen, who was taken out last year, or the perpetrator of the Benghazi attacks, who sits in a prison cell. When you come after Americans, we go after you. It may take time, but we have long memories, and our reach has no limit.”