James Rosen source: Obama will attack Syria no matter what Congress does

Rosen is quoted on Gretawire as quoting an unnamed source, and I always caution about unnamed sources although I find Rosen to be trustworthy.

The money quote:

The official said that every major player on the National Security Council – including the commander-in-chief – was in accord last night on the need for military action, and that the president’s decision to seek a congressional debate and vote was a surprise to most if not all of them. However, the aide insisted the request for Congress to vote did not supplant the president’s earlier decision to use force in Syria, only delayed its implementation. “That’s going to happen, anyway,” the source told me, adding that that was why the president, in his rose Garden remarks, was careful to establish that he believes he has the authority to launch such strikes even without congressional authorization.

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Other senior administration officials, outside of the Department of State, would not confirm as much, telling reporters only that the door had been left open for the president to proceed without congressional authorization. Well, you can't be entirely surprised, can you? Obama did say on Saturday that he doesn't think he needs congressional authorization, which sets him up as Mr. Reasonable for asking anyway, but allows him to come back later and just do whatever he wants. He never has answered the question of where he gets the authority to attack another country without congressional approval. I doubt he will, because there is no answer. So really, if he doesn't need approval from Congress (or so he thinks) and he's willing to just go ahead and do it without their authorization, what's the point of seeking it at all? To the extent there is any strategic value to be gained from the attack, why wait? One thing we can say is that Obama clearly doesn't believe he's going to do anything to save Syrian lives, since he made it clear it doesn't matter how long he wants - that the military option is just as viable any time he decides to do it. Can anyone make any sense of Obama's stance here?