 President Obama appears prepared to authorize U.S. military airstrikes in Syria as part of a more intensive campaign to defeat the Islamic State, and the White House does not believe it needs formal congressional approval to take action, according to people who have spoken with the president in recent days. Obama discussed his plans in a dinner with a bipartisan group of foreign policy experts Monday night at the White House and made clear he believes he has the authority to attack the militant Islamist group on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border in order to protect U.S national security, multiple people who participated in the discussion said. The move to attack in Syria would represent a remarkable escalation in strategy for Obama, who has sought during his presidency to reduce the U.S. military engagement in the Middle East. The Islamic State controls wide swaths of territory in both countries, but the United States has so far limited its military engagement to Iraq, as Obama has been reluctant to intervene in Syria's civil war. White House press secretary Josh Earnest cautioned that the address would not provide a timeline for the military campaign, nor was Obama expected to outline costs for the operation. Several prominent Republican members, including Sen. Robert Portman (Ohio), said they believe Obama can launch airstrikes to combat the militants in both Iraq and Syria without seeking a congressional vote. ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 Wednesday’s address is a pivotal moment for the president just months before a midterm election season in which the Senate’s majority hangs in the balance. I think it’s a leadership deficit right now,” he said, adding that he appreciates that the White House has scheduled briefings for the full House and Senate membership over the coming days. The president is expected to use the speech to announce the expanded use of airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq, as well as his administration’s efforts to build an international coalition to confront the terror threat. One former Obama administration official, who was not at the dinner on Monday, said that the president was committed to a strategy to strike the Islamic State "wherever they are.
– President Obama will lay out his plan to cripple the Islamic State tomorrow night, and the Washington Post reports that he looks poised to order airstrikes in Syria. That controversial action probably won't come right away, but Obama has met with foreign policy experts and believes he is within his authority to do so when necessary. Obama met with congressional leaders today—John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi—and informed them that he would welcome congressional support but that he plans to broaden the attack on ISIS regardless, reports the AP. Afterward, none of the four talked about the necessity of an authorization vote, and both parties seem eager to avoid one before the midterms, reports the Hill. The first steps in the US strategy will likely be to expand airstrikes in Iraq, to beef up an international coalition against ISIS, and to provide more aid to groups on the ground that are fighting the militants in both Iraq and Syria. As for airstrikes in the latter country, which could be seen as helping Bashar al-Assad: ISIS "is not an organization that respects international boundaries," says former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy, who was among the experts who had dinner with the president last night. "You cannot leave them with a safe haven. I expect him to be very candid." Obama speaks at 9pm Eastern tomorrow.