White House Pushing Congress to Arm Syrian Rebels

What could possibly go wrong?

President Obama is making calls to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, urging them to support giving him authority to arm and train Syrian rebels in a vote later this week.

The White House is "gratified" by early signs of support for the president's request, but Obama will to continue to call lawmakers in the coming days.

"We've seen public statements from Democrats and Republicans in senior positions both in the House and the Senate indicate that they support giving the administration the necessary authority to ramp up our assistance to the Syrian opposition by training and equipping them," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "So we're gratified by that show of bipartisan public support for this urgent priority."