Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, says Barack Obama better come to Congress before taking further action against ISIL. “We are really going to war,” Schiff said. “When the president talks about taking the offense against [ISIL], what we’re really saying is we’re engaged in a long-term military campaign.” Therefore, he added, “This is something that we have a constitutional obligation to take up, to vote, and to authorize.” Schiff knows Obama “would like nothing more” than to gain Congress’s approval for what he’s going to do anyway, if for no other reason than political cover. On the other hand, he knows Democrats are unlikely to vote for another war in the Middle East, so maybe he’s giving them political cover by avoiding the vote altogether.