“A vote is necessary,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) told The Hill. “The president is already empowered to act forcefully against those who murdered Americans, but he should seek congressional authorization to engage in the broader, sustained combat he envisions.”

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) piled on.

“It would be very reckless, in my view, for him to go in and start doing all this without getting a vote from the Congress,” he told MSNBC recently.

Pelosi, a fierce opponent of the Iraq war under the George W. Bush, has toed the line between the liberal critics and Obama by urging a congressional debate on the use-of-force question, but stopping short of calling for a vote – at least for now.

“Whether we take a vote or not, we’re not at that point because we believe the president has the authority,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday.