Given that American forces have supplied and supported regional forces as they face off against ISIS for many months, one could hardly blame you for forgetting that Congress never passed a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) tailored for this conflict.
The president submitted an AUMF for approval but, for one reason or another, from saying it doesn't go far enough to saying that he may actually use it to help ISIS, Congress has not granted its approval.
The Republican-controlled Congress may be dragging its feet, however that has not prevented them from blaming the president for not submitting an "overarching strategy."
President Obama should scrap his war powers request to fight Islamic terrorists and go back to the drawing board, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday. [...]
Boehner said the president should withdraw the AUMF and "start over."
“I’ve been calling on the president to develop an overarching strategy to deal with the growing terrorist threat — we don’t have one,” Boehner continued. “And the fact is the threat is growing faster than what we and our allies can do to stop it.”
That's the joke.
There was a time not very long ago when the president was condemned for acting without the authority granted by a new AUMF, but after he submitted a proposal the critics fell silent and never pushed to actually vote for the AUMF.
Damned if he does. Damned if he doesn't.