The lawmakers, one Republican and one Democratic, offered bipartisan pressure on the White House to turn
back the hazard of Islamist fighters who have taken control of vast swaths of Syria and Iraq. Those
militants now are looking toward the United States or Western Europe for its next targets, lawmakers
said.

Without offering specifics on any threats or suggestions how to confront them, the lawmakers said Obama
soon needs to develop a comprehensive strategy to crush the fighters.

"His foreign policy is in absolute free-fall," said Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who
heads the House Intelligence Committee.

In another TV interview, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who leads the Senate intelligence
panel, said Obama is perhaps "too cautious" in his approach to combatting the Islamic State
group.

"This is a group of people who are extraordinarily dangerous," Feinstein said. "And
they’ll kill with abandon."

The pair of lawmakers, who have access to some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets and receive regular
and detailed briefings from the nation’s spy agencies, offered dire predictions of an attack on the
United States or its European allies if the militants are not confronted.

"They have announced that they don’t intend to stop," Feinstein said. "They have announced
that they will come after us if they can, that they will, quote, ‘spill our blood.’"

The threat, Rogers said, could include Americans who have trained with Islamic State fighters. He said
there are hundreds of Islamic State-trained Americans who can return to the U.S. with their American
passports.

"I’m very concerned because we don’t know every single person that has an American passport that has
gone and trained and learned how to fight," Rogers said.

Rogers said U.S. intelligence agencies were tracking the Americans who are known to have traveled to the
region. If they helped Islamic State fighters, he said, they should be charged under laws that prohibit
Americans from aiding terrorists.

"ISIL would like to have a Western-style attack to continue this notion that they are the leading
jihadist group in the world," Rogers said, using another name for the group.

The top Democrat on his intelligence panel, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, was more
skeptical. He said more needs to be known before judging whether they plan to commit terrorist acts in
the U.S. any time soon. The group’s priority now seems to be to hold on to territory it has gained
rather than export violence.

"It is extremely urgent, but you don’t just rush in," he said.

It was a view shared by Rep. Adam Smith, a Washington state Democrat on the House Armed Services
Committee: "We can’t simply bomb first and ask questions later."

Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged fast
action and said Islamic State fighters "must be defeated, not contained," because they
represent a direct threat to the U.S.

Added Homeland Security Committee member Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.: "The longer we wait, the more
dangerous" the group becomes.

Feinstein said she has seen nothing that compares to the viciousness of the militants who have overrun
large portions of Iraq, killed civilians and beheaded American journalist James Foley. The Islamic State
group has financing, military structure and weapons unlike any other militants, she said.

Obama said Thursday he did not yet have a strategy for dealing with the Islamic State organization, a
remark that brought criticism from Democrats and Republicans. In an interview published early this year
by The New Yorker, the president appeared to minimize the group by comparing it to a junior varsity
basketball team. The White House said he was speaking about a different threat posed by a range of
extremists across the world.

Feinstein said she thought the basketball analogy was wrong — "I think it’s a major varsity
team" — but would not say whether she thought Obama projected weakness by admitting he had no
strategy.

"I think I’ve learned one thing about this president, and that is he’s very cautious," she
said. "Maybe in this instance, too cautious. I do know that the military, I know that the State
Department, I know that others have been putting plans together. And so hopefully, those plans will
coalesce into a strategy."

Feinstein spoke to NBC’s "Meet the Press." Rogers appeared on "Fox News Sunday."
Ruppersberger was on CNN’s "State of the Union." McCain, Smith and King were interviewed on
CBS’ "Face the Nation."

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