Saudi prince on helping U.S. fight ISIS

Saudi Arabia is part of the coalition helping the U.S. carry out airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets in Syria, and the country's former U.S. ambassador, Prince Turki al-Faisal, confirmed that Saudi war planes were involved during the campaign.

While al-Faisal said he has "no idea" what the U.S. promised the kingdom in return for their help, he said he would imagine Saudi Arabia would eventually want to see the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He said he hopes the airstrikes are the first step in doing that because "you can't simply deal with ISIS and not deal with Assad," he told "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell.

President Obama has stressed the importance of Arab and Muslim nations being involved in the fight against extremism. Al-Faisal also agreed.

"You know, we don't consider ISIS as being a Muslim group, because of what they do to Islam," al-Faisal said.

ISIS claims to be creating an Islamic state, but al-Faisal refuted that notion.

"That's what they claim. And unfortunately some people believe them. But their actions belie their words," al-Faisal said. "You don't simply create an Islamic state by chopping people's heads off and enforcing your opinion on them."

Al-Faisal said if the need for ground troops in Syria arises, he hopes President Obama will change his mind about not having U.S. boots on the ground. Al-Faisal expressed a similar attitude for Saudi Arabia's ground troops.

"Look, we sent in our aircraft. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't send in our ground troops," he said.

Iran President Hassan Rouhani has criticized Arab nations' involvement in the Syria airstrikes as illegal.

"What about his troops being on the ground killing Syrians?" al-Faisal said with a laugh, referencing Iran's military support to the Assad regime. "This is the irony and, if you like, the rather arrogant attitude that they give themselves the license to send troops to kill Syrians but then when we try to defend the Syrian people they say that is illegal. That's unacceptable."

Iran is one of the Syrian government's most important allies, but al-Faisal also said he hopes Iran's president will visit Saudi Arabia soon, saying it would be "a welcome step."