A frequent congressional critic of President Barack Obama praised the speech he gave on Wednesday vowing to destroy the Islamic State (ISIS) but told
Newsmax TV on Friday that lawmakers are "watching" to make sure he sticks to his plan.
"For the first time in a long time I heard leadership from the president," Rep. Renee Ellmers, North Carolina Republican, told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner, adding that "he has discussed this issue with a strength and a resolve that hasn't been there in the past."
Story continues below video.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on
DIRECTV Ch. 349 and
DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system –
Click Here Now
"I hope this is the turning point from here on out," said Ellmers, "but what we have to make sure we're watching is, that the actions of the president are the same as the words he used the other night."
Ellmers said that the White House and Congress can put aside differences and unite behind the fight against ISIS, whose barbaric conduct in Iraq and Syria — including the videotaped beheadings of two American journalists — is increasingly viewed with alarm in the United States.
"This is obviously a bipartisan issue," she said. "This is about America, and ensuring that every American is safe. We are going to have to work together. … I know that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are just as concerned about this issue as I am and every Republican [is]."
Ellmers said that she didn't agree with every presidential talking point on Wednesday — "There were things that I questioned," she said — but she gave Obama credit for presenting a "sensible discussion" of the crisis.
Asked why it took him so long, Ellmers said, "I have grappled with that question as well, and I do know that the president had been briefed on ISIS/ISIL … for over a year. What changed? What happened now?
"I'll tell you what it is: It's the American people," said Ellmers. "The American people have told the president that this is intolerable. … he saw that his disapproval numbers are the highest he's ever had. That spoke to him, and the American people were the ones who changed the president's mind."
Ellmers said that Congress's job is to make sure the president doesn't revert to form.
She said Obama's past disinclination to project American power abroad "has sent a message across the world where our allies are not sure that we are with them and our enemies do not fear us."
But she added: "Maybe this is the turning point for us. Maybe this is the turning point for the president, where he realizes that he is commander-in-chief, he is the leader of the free world, and we as Americans and America have to be the strongest."
As for how far the president must be willing to go to rid the world of ISIS, and whether he should be prepared to overrule his promise not to fight another major Mideast war, Ellmers said, "I do not want to see our military placed in harm again. I don't want to see any more lives lost.
At the same time, she said, "The issue here is that [ISIS's] intentions are to be here in the U.S. and to act here in the U.S. on American soil. I do not want to see another 9/11."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.