CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Interview

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BLITZER: As U.S. airstrikes rain down on ISIS targets in Iraq, there's growing pressure on the Obama administration to hit ISIS targets in Syria, as well. President Obama himself has promised, and I'm quoting him now, justice will be served. But as the Pentagon prepares various options for the president, some are questioning if he has all the legal authority to go ahead and start bombing targets inside Syria.

One U.S. senator drafted legislation to give him that permission. That would be the Democratic senator from Florida, Bill Nelson. He's joining us now from Orlando.

Senator, thanks very much for joining us. You want a resolution, an authorizing legislation to be passed in the Senate that would formally give the president the authority to go ahead and bomb targets in Syria. Is that it right?

SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: In a word, yes. Now I believe that the president has the constitutional authority for the protection of the interests of the United States to go ahead.

However, there is some dispute, and some of the legal scholars as well as some of our fellow senators like Tim Kaine of Virginia, feel very strongly about this. And so we need to put those doubts to rest. And let's just give the legal authority in Syria. The president has the authority in Iraq. Let's give it in Syria because the head of the snake is in Syria, and that's where you have to go after to kill the snake.

BLITZER: As you know, a lot of your fellow senators will ask this legitimate question. Why vote for something like that before there's an actual strategy in place including an exit strategy for dealing with ISIS in Syria?

NELSON: Well, the president has a strategy. He started on August the 25th doing the surveillance flights over Syria. He also has the strategy and has been very successful in northern Iraq and Kurdistan of having used air power to help the Kurdistan Peshmerga troops, as well as the Iraqi army. That has been deployed very successfully.

Now if we team up with a coalition, and he's talking to them right now in the NATO summit, and others such as the Free Syria Army, which by the way is not only fighting the Assad regime; they're fighting ISIS, as well. You team up with a coalition that can do the work on the ground plus Special Operations troops whenever you need to employ them, then you have a successful strategy.

BLITZER: Because the president the other day himself said that, when it comes to ISIS targets, ISIS operations in Syria, he hasn't formalized, finished that strategy yet. They're working on that kind of strategy.

Here's the question, though. Do you believe your fellow senators want to raise their hands, vote yay or nay on such a resolution? A lot of them are suggesting they want to run away from a formal vote.

NELSON: Well, it's our responsibility. It's part of the Constitution. If you declare war, it has to go through the Congress.

On the other hand, the president clearly has the chance to strike if he's protecting the country.

So this isn't going to be a one- or two-day strike. This is going to go on for a while. And it's going to be absolutely essential, because if we don't deal with it now, we're going to have to deal with ISIS in the future. I mean, Wolf, the head of ISIS has said he wants the black flag of ISIS flying over the White House.

BLITZER: And you're taking him very seriously, obviously with those words. Senator Bill Nelson, thanks very much for joining us.

NELSON: Thanks, Wolf.

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