Face in the News: US strikes ISIS in Syria, but what about Congressional authorization?

WASHINGTON (CBS News) - As the U.S. and its allies target ISIS militants with fresh air strikes in Iraq and Syria, many at home are wary of the escalating conflict and are wondering why Congress has not weighed in on the mission. Those issues were front and center Sunday on "Face The Nation."

This week marked the first U.S. intervention in the Syrian Civil War, and American pilots were joined in the air by partners from five Arab nations. But as President Barack Obama implements his plan to root out ISIS extremists, he has also gone to great lengths to define the mission's clear boundaries.

Tony Blinken, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said Sunday on "Face The Nation" that coalition strikes were off to "a very good start" but reiterated that U.S. ground troops would not be involved.

"This is a very different approach than what was taken in the past," Blinken said. "It's not tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of American ground forces. It's not trillion of American dollars. It's helping local forces with some of the unique things we have."

Blinken later said the president would "welcome" a new resolution from Congress authorizing strikes in Syria, but administration believes it already has the authority for the mission. These comments were picked up by the Associated Press, the Washington Post, USA Today, Newsmax and the New York Post.

Lawmakers have been split on the issue of authorization. One member that has been outspoken on the issue is Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who disagreed with Blinken and said Sunday that the administration should have received formal approval from Congress before any military strikes in Syria.

"It really concerns me that the president would assert he has the ability to do this unilaterally when as a candidate for president, he made very plain that the president cannot unilaterally start a war without Congress," Kaine said.

Kaine went on to praise the Obama administration for building a broad coalition against ISIS. Five Arab partners joined U.S. air strikes in Syria, and the U.K. signed on late last week for military strikes in Iraq.

His comments were covered by Reuters, The New York Times, Politico, The Hill and National Review.