Poll: Americans want Obama to get Congress OK on Syria

Aamer Madhani | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Military strike on Syria: Should Congress get a vote? The White House says senior leaders in Congress are being included in conversations about whether or not to retaliate against Syria, but will they get a formal vote?

Nearly 80% of Americans say President Obama should seek congressional approval before taking any military action in Syria, according to an NBC News poll published Friday.

Seventy-nine percent of respondents say they want the president to receive congressional approval before taking any action.

The tough poll numbers for the White House come one day after members of Obama's national security team provided 26 lawmakers with an unclassified briefing to detail some of the intelligence they say shows regime loyalists linked to Syrian President Bashar Assad were responsible for a chemical attack Aug. 21 outside Damascus that left hundreds dead.

The British Parliament voted Thursday to reject taking limited military action against Syria, despite the U.K. government releasing intelligence that shows the regime has deployed chemical weapons 15 times against the Syrian opposition.

Overall, 50% of Americans say they oppose the United States taking military action against Assad, and 42% support it, according to the new poll.

When respondents were asked if the military action meant launching cruise missiles from naval warships — 50% favored it, while 44% opposed military action.

That figure could provide some comfort to Obama who has made clear that any potential action against Assad would be limited in scope and would not include U.S. troops on the ground.

Aides to Obama say he has not made a decision about taking military action in Syria.

"As we've said, President Obama's decision making will be guided by what is in the best interests of the United States," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said Thursday. "He believes that there are core interests at stake for the United States. He believes that there are core interests at stake for the United States and that countries who violate international norms regarding chemical weapons need to be held accountable."

NBC conducted its poll Wednesday and Thursday, and the poll has a margin of error of ±3.7 percentage points.